[Kokatha man]

I've got an F8 150mm achro on my HEQ5, ie a long tom: I'm quite adept at accurate polar alignment and allways do a 3 star alignment, and whilst the 1st and 2nd stars need some correcting after it auto-slews to them, the third is much better for it to find - GoTo is then pretty dang accurate with a 26mm ep (48x) - but this baby allways follows its peculiar pathways to some of the objects sought, sometimes trying the "loop de loop," depending on their positions relative to where it last was.

And this has meant occasionally "skimming" the "southern leg" of the tripod with the focusser racked out, though I guess I could quickly pull that in cos it's motorized - but the first couple of times I stopped it, thinking I was about to have a major bingle; but now when it occasionally takes that route, if I hold my nerve it just skims past the leg without contact - though in the dark it takes some nerve to "hold steady" at that proximity! Only does it on that "southern leg."

As for someone's mention of moving the position of the "southern leg," I don't think you have any options there - this is the leg that has the azimuth adjustment spigot centred above it and by nature requires it (the spigot) and the leg to be as approximate to south as is possible, given the angular adjustment allowable with the az adjust screws. All I can say is hold your nerves, and "steady as she goes!"