Hi Luke, in all my years at doing this, the #1 complaint after having the 9" arm for a year and a half is, "I wish I would have bought the long arm" The reason is, you never know what might come your way, and you want to be prepared for anything. The 2 or 3 hundred dollar difference, when spread over the life of the machine is really not much. So I always suggest the long arm first. I don't want anyone mad at me for not giving the customer a viable option. Thanks good buddy, Steve