This Counterweight Shaft is the standard shaft for all 900GTO mounts shipped after January 2007. It can also be used as an optional "heavyweight" shaft for the Mach1GTO, or even as an optional "lightweight" shaft for the 1200 for those times that you remove the big scope and put a small instrument on the big mount.  The threads on the mount end of the shaft have a lead-in to help prevent cross threading. The lead-in was shortened slightly from the older style M9404 so that this shaft can once again be used on a 900 or 1200 series mount with shaft encoders. We machined matching female threads into the far end of the counterweight shaft, to accept the versatile 9" extension (M12675) so that you don't have to order a longer shaft to accomodate a larger scope. The washerless Safety Stop (M12676) is a required accessory for this counterweight shaft. 

This 1.875" diameter counterweight shaft is precision-machined from solid 303 stainless steel as are all the counterweight shafts we produce. And, like all our other counterweight shafts, it's just downright pretty! It weighs in at 10.5 lbs (4.8 kg) with the safety stop and its 12.875" usable length can hold up to 90 lbs. of counterweights in any configuration. It is compatible with our 5 lb. (5SCWT), 10 lb. (10SCWT) and 18 lb. (18SCWT) counterweights.

This shaft is recommended for:   all 1200 mount models and 900 models (HDA, QMD, SMD and GTO) that have been produced. It may also be used with the Mach1GTO.