Do you mind sharing more info about your telescope? Someone mentioned a TC-40 carbon fiber mount. I'll probably get that.
It's short. The longer the refractor, the shorter it seems! Vibration suppression pads help it out a whole lot. I just picked up a ZWO AM3 setup (mount, tripod [TC-40], pier) to try out. It has no alignment routine available, so it does a terrible job in alt/az for visual. I then tried a Wave 100i setup (mount, tripod, pier) that actually tracks well because it has an alignment routine. For standalone use, you will need a handcontroller for it, or just use your phone.
With my 120 f/7.5 on those, I am very near the bottom of my Starbound chair's travel range. Both of those tripods are shaky as is, and even when weighed down, but those pads really help out.
I really hate SkyWatcher's pier, because you have to use allen keys to get the mount on the pier. Even when replacing those with thumbscrews, it's still very annoying. Much to my surprise, the Wave 100i works well with the ZWO TC-40 and the ZWO pier. That pier has built in thumbscrews. so I don't have to feel around to find the screw hole first. My covered 120 has been happily on there for the last several days, with 40 mph gusts.
I much prefer my Manfrotto 475B with N12 head for my 80mm and my 120. I lived in NYC back when I got it, so there were plenty of used options around. It's an expensive setup brand new, and heavy, but its elevator center column is really nice to have. A cedar solver setup gets me goto (should I ever need it), but I am still the tracker on that.
The focal length of the 120 (~900mm) frames things really nicely with my intensifier, but it's a little slow (f/7.5). I got an 8" f/4 for that, but the torque is way too high for the N12, so I had to explore other portable mounting options. I definitely need to counterweight that scope with both the above mounts on those tripods, because of the tipping over hazard. My 120 gets a counterweight too, just because. My 80mm f/6 is fine.
My 15" f/4.2 UC dob is the scope that gets out most often. Although it was designed with plane travel in mind, I have hugged it way too many times by now to just hand over to baggage handlers. At the very least, the mirror would travel as a carry on. Terror can be justified! Unfortunately, even with an intensifier, even under the darkest of skies, you simply can't beat aperture for image scale. CAC does have a 40" StarLockWoodStructure for that, but it's for shared use only. You can reserve an 18" for personal use after training. That's probably the easiest was to dip your toe in the water, carrying on your eyepieces, and not worrying about the scope just yet, and definitely without buying cougar infested land first.