what camera & lens are you using? manfrotto are certainly great but not the cheapest. Induro AKB2 is great value.. tripod and ballhead for the price of a manfrotto tripod alone. Induro ball heads are fine (no grease either) although i still prefer the manfrotto ones a touch more. both handle my heavy 5DmkII and big lenses no problem.
Induro AKB2 is $172 here including delivery:
http://www.discountcameras.com.au/di...&return_id=331
you can spend more on a bigger tripod if you want but i guarantee an AKB2 will hold your camera no problem.
with the dovetail bar, you should be able to attach the camera direct to the bar. sounds like you need to get a bolt the right length so that you don't need shims.. or cut one of your existing bolts down to size. there should be a cheap and simple fix for that one..
Phil