Absolutely they are easier to inspect. Mine are raised up on blocks so you could work them seated if you were not able to stand or bend. Maximum weight lifted at any time is 8-10 pounds. A word of caution, though: they are NOT as easy to transport as a Lang once they are full of bees. Make sure you put them somewhere they can stay for the long term.
Many people here don't use queen excluders at all even in Langstroths, and call them honey excluders. I have never used a queen excluder myself, but if you are absolutely determined to have one, I've seen a horizontal design where a cut-down excluder is slid vertically into a groove in the inside of the hive. But it's not very convenient and reduces the innate flexibility of the design. The queen does not really want to cross the honey to lay, anyway, especially if she has enough space in the brood nest.
As for having enough space, that's one of the greatest strengths of a long hive. If you need more space in the brood nest, you just slide some of the frames down and insert empty frames directly into the brood nest. You can add exactly as many frames as you want, instead of being limited to multiples of 10 and having lots of empty space. I find that the bees draw frames put directly into the brood nest among drawn combs much faster than they draw frames placed all together above.
You should have a "movable partition" to reduce the space the bees have to heat, cool, and guard while the hive is smaller. In a long hive, as in a TBH, this is called a follower board.
By the way, you should add your location to your profile, so people can give more locally specific advice/offer to come help you out if they are close.