The in-line baler has its crop pickup, baling chamber and compacting plunger all located on the same fore-and-aft axis as viewed in top plan, but the tongue of the baler can be selectively swung by a hydraulic cylinder from a centered position to an offset position so that the baler may be correspondingly operated either directly behind the towing vehicle or off to one side as desired by the operator. To compensate for an otherwise excessive weight transfer onto the outboard ground wheel when the baler is shifted to the offset location, the onboard internal combustion engine and other drive apparatus for the operating components of the baler are all located off to one side of the center line of the machine, i.e., toward the inboard ground wheel. The pivot point for the tongue is located forwardly of the transverse axis of the ground wheels and slightly to the inboard side of the central axis of the baler, between the pickup and the overhead baling chamber.