Brett,
I would strongly suggest at least just having a play with a
'Bartel' type stepper or servo arrangement first before going
too far off on a tangent with ideas that may just end up
frustrating you.
The Bartel setup can be done totally on the cheap...all with
pretty much 2nd hand gear that today is worthless.
You say you have read the Scope-Drive pages tirelessly...
well dive in and have a go.
The best way to get a feel for it's limitations and quirks...along
with it's fantastic range of possibilities...is to do it.
You can get steppers suitable from old photocopier machines, faxes,
printers and even old 5 1/4in floppies....cheap.
You can use an old 386-486/Pent 120 era laptop/desktop....cheap.
You can make the circuit needed on a piece of veroboard in
an afternoon.....cheap.
Finally, you can implement a perfectly sound tracking platform
on a Dob (or GEM if you're adventurous) with just pressure
rollers or toothed belts....cheap.
Finally, I can highly recommend joining the Scope-drive mailing list
if you haven't already....thousands of very experienced Bartel
dabblers at hand to offer advice.
Steve