I have meched both an Elna Supermatic and an Elna Grasshopper back to health and they work beautifully. In fact, the non-working Supermatic was my first meching job, years ago, so you know it can't be that hard. They are heavy, but not likely to be damaged by transporting because of the metal case. They are not especially noisy and are wonderful, dependable machines. If memory serves, there are only two machines made for the domestic market that have a true low gear (to power through heavy stuff) and the Grasshopper is one of them; the other is a Viking 6000 series, I think 6040. I have both. The friction wheel does tend to go flat and can be sanded if not too bad, or replaced.