I'm about ready to pull the trigger as I like the fact of this pivoting
also which may help to with my back issues. The one remaining question
is the stand and the weight of this lathe. If I build a stand out of
8/4 maple and weight it down somehow should this be as good as the case
iron legs they sell for it.

I have both a pivoting head lathe (Poolewood) and a sliding headstock
lathe (Powermatic 3520A) and much prefer the sliding headstock feature.
The workpiece stays centered over the bed and seems a lot more stable
when roughing and turning out of balance pieces. Standing at the end of
the lathe for turning bowls and hollow forms is a real blessing for your
back, and I have a greater range of body movement when working off the end
than with the pivoting head lathe.

As for the stand, I have robust cast iron legs on the Powermatic but still
ended up adding a shelf and 350 pounds of sand. I built a sturdy wooden
stand for the Poolewood and added a bunch of weight to it. Both seem to
work equally well. If you are much of a scrounger you ought to be able to
build your own stand for next to nothing. You certainly don't need to
invest in maple. Any scrap wood will do if you make your stand massive
enough and braced well enough.