Zaph its pretty much the NWG welded together with a few small changes. In that design the point to moint the arm is basically where he has it just right above it. I agree with ya just saying thats how they are made or should I say the designs call out for.
Bp looks good, I assume thats a 5/8" shaft, should work fine (I have the 3/4" one myself). One thing I use to have my pillow blocks setup like you did except my motor was farther away but even then it puts a huge amount of stress on the bearings which depending on where you get the blocks are probably imported stuff and not the good kind. If you take a 4x8 or whatever size you need, weld that on the top of your 4 tube box then mount the bearings it really helps with stability and evening out the stress.