@davel501 , allow me to clarify...maybe my wording is what you disagreed with. Let me clarify...there is not load capacity rated for any of the covers. Speaking specifically about the canvas (not shipping) covers for a moment...They are designed to shed water and not designed to hold anything at all. Wet snow is especially heavy and "may" cause the cover to rip. We have had members in the previous forum and some of them are now here, that have reported tears or rips due to a weight load on their covers. A sagging cover can hold water and whether water or snow, if it is sagging, it puts weight on the seams, and they can give way. At a minimum it puts additional stress on the cover.
While I am clarifying here, let me also add that the new Premium cover, made by the same folks that made the Deluxe Mooring and Trailering cover, designed it to be used with the anti-pooling poles installed while trailering, but the mooring and trailing cover was designed to be used without. Same situation, some have done it and not had an issue, others report stress and tears. It is too subjective to make a judgement IMO about this as some covers get more UV exposure than others, and some are subjected, like
@davel501 's cover, to snow loads. It may be nothing more than UV that causes the weakening, but the snow, water, or trailering/w poles may be the point of failure.
And finally, the shipping cover is entirely a different animal than the M/T or even the premium cover. It has a greater weight capability than does either of the canvas covers. And...it is designed to have anti-pooling poles installed for trailering. But it does not breath. Many guys have disagreed that they are ok for storage and point taken on that, we can disagree. Again, it is very subjective. The geographic regions we all live/boat/storage/trailer/etc. vary greatly, and it isn't a "one size fits all" answer. But overall, the shipping cover, being a 3 ply cover, is MUCH heavier than is either of the permanent storage and trailering covers. The shipping cover was never designed to be used on a boat that was put into service, it was the factory shipping cover for transport on dealer delivery, it is fleece lined inside, a middle ply, and a vinyl coating, and as such, it just doesn't breath at all. The vents on the side of it are not vents for the purpose of ventilation, but rather designed to create the suction to keep the cover from flapping and etching the glass when in transport. It is a good idea to use some form of ventilation and moisture control if you use a shipping cover for storage.
Thanks for pointing out that my generic answer above was not clear!
