taking down a long arm
 

Hi, quilting board members. May I have your opinion. I'm moving soon and am taking my Handiquilter Avante with me to my new home. My dealer (about 2 hours away from my current place) wants $300 to come to my home and take my machine down. He is not transporting it, nor will he set it up in the new place. Is that a fair price? Should I try to take it apart myself? The instruction manual shows how to set it up. I could just follow the directions backwards. What do you think? Sadly, I have no handy husband to help me out. I'm on my own. Thanks for your opinions.

Is there no-one at all to give you a hand?

If you have instructions why can't you do it yourself. I too am on my own, and at 65 bought my Lizzie from a dealer an hours' drive away, in boxes, and assembled it all myself. Do you have all the tools, hex keys & spanners or such - should have been provided in the kit. My only regret is that I could have used my cordless drill if I had the right 'bits'. would have been easier/quicker. The only help needed was my sewing friend helped to lift the machine onto the frame.
Am now 70, and not as healthy, but could still do it all again, and will have to if I move from here.
But then, I've always had to be a jack-of-all-trades for many years, even when I had a man around the house.

Wish you luck.

I have an HQ16 that needed service. They did not make house calls and wanted everything but the table. I took it all apart myself and took pictures of everything while I took it apart. When I got it to the shop, she said the only thing I needed to bring seperate was the computer and the cables. Oh well, practice makes perfect! Disassemble in reverse order.

I moved my 12 ft table and APQS Millenium a couple years ago. My grandson and I got the machine off the table and I took that in my car. We got the hydraulic lift off the table but couldn't get the table apart...we weren't strong enough. I had hired local movers through Angie's List and planned to ask them to take the table apart. They elected to just move the table and that worked. At my new place they brought it in through the patio and sliding glass doors. I wish I hadn't taken off the hydraulic lifts from the legs.

Thanks, ladies, you've given me confidence. Maybe I can scare up some girlfriends to give me a hand.

Lots of good suggestions here, and I just wanted to say that common sense and logic can go a long way to solving a problem.....

I do have a DH but he has had heart problems so I did most of it myself. I have HQ16 and it came with 2 fold up tables and I was able to do that. I did ask him to help guide me in placing the machine in the channels.

Yes, common sense and most quilters already have that. You could buy a lot of fabric for $300. Good luck.

I took down my longarm myself when I moved. I took lots of pictures, took notes on the order used to take it down, put the bolts, nuts, etc. that I used in baggies that I labeled with numbers and notes. When I got to the new house I was able to reassemble most of it by myself. I did get my son's help inserting the long poles, but probably could have done that too if necessary. It isn't rocket science. And if you do it yourself, you will know a lot more about your machine and its frame.

oh how I wish I could come help. My DH doesn't do anything when assembling ever, so if I buy something that has to be put together either I do it alone or seek the assistance of my eldest daughter. My dear friend has given me the strength to do such things by myself. It never ceases to amaze me what she does on her own. She even uses power saws on her own. She said the worse that can happen is needing a repairman later and she is right.

So give it a try, maybe call in a friend for moral support and to assist with taking pictures and writing notes.

Take lots of pictures along the way!