Hi Bryan.
The max recommended weight for an cg5 mount is closer to 10Kg.
The counterweights don't matter.
I have my 10" dob on the eq5 a lot and it handles it easy for visual (still have to try photography with it).
Cheers Martin.
I've done photography with a 17 Kg counterweight load in a observatory on my CG5. The visual load capacity is actually 15 Kgs - took some research to find this figure.
Very well balanced and protected from the wind and on a large pier (i.e. stack everything in your favour) and you can sometimes push things!
Thanks guys.
I'm about the same as you Mathew.
I have 17kg c/w right at the end of the standard c/w bar.
I haven't weighed my payload, but it's pretty well balanced.