I'd probably use the racks, and get comfortable with the idea of possibly dumping the bar. Once you do it the first time, it's not so scary after that. It should only be an issue with 5x5 anyway. The 4x10 and 3x15 routine, it shouldn't be so bad. I think I would rather use less weight, so there is no chance of dropping the bar, than use a machine to do squats.
As far as constant or gradual. I've heard, for hypertrophy sake, constant is the way to go. Although, for low rep deadlifts and squats, I've always incremented up, but that is my personal preference.
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