I do admit, the top is quite large, but I'm not sure how big a foot print an equatorial fork mount capable of carying a 24" scope is, so I think this should cover it.
Those bolts for the baseplate (being high tensile) will have a breaking strain of many tonnes for each bolt. And the interface between the baseplate and 100 x 100 x 3mm RHS is not going to tear. 400mm of strong weld on each leg, it's all good
It's not like there is much force on it.
I had it up, as you can see in the pictures, I climbed to the top (it was only on 3 legs cause of the uneven ground) and with a stiff wind, it didn't move a bit, just under it's own weight.
But I fully understand where you're coming from Mike
Thanks for following!