Snowing here in Denver again, my mind is made up. Come next week I'll be losing my tarps and pulling a connestoga. Found one for $20,000 including trailer (2000 transcraft). this trailer's deck looks close to new, from being covered for the last year and a half. GMAN, you re right about maintenance. Went to the manufacturers website and found a monthly schedule on required maintenance. Mostly involve making sure all the bolts are tight and inspecting the system in general. Not a bad trade off compared to time and effort involved with climbing on and off loads to tarp.
Hated pulling anything that only went a few hundred miles, knowing that those tarps were waiting for me at the end of the day. I rarely pull over sized loads, so that won't really be a problem.