Thanks Guys,
Don't worry Ken, if I do anything to the beast I'll be plastering it in here too
And Leon, reckon you're right, it's pretty stable. Most of the mount is made for 1inch plate steel
I don't know the weight, but I couldn't even shift it a centimeter by myself to take these photos. From memory I had 3 helpers to carry it when I "rescued" it from the old observatory.
cheers,