Leaves and snow/ice

We are first time pool owners (15x30 AG), and were given a green "winter cover" from the previous owners of the pool. I have no idea what kind it is. We have a ton of trees above our pool so come fall, there would be thousands of leaves in there if we didn't cover it. We also get alot of snow and ice here in NE Ohio so am I going to have trouble with that if I do use the cover? Is this a no win situation? Instead of a pillow, I was going to stack a few intertubes on top of each other and tie together using rope or something and use that in the center underneath the cover. Also, what does everyone use to secure the cover down? I've heard of gallon jugs filled with water and also some type of binder clips which sounds more appealing to me. Any suggestions or helpful hints would be most appreciated............we're very nervous for our first winter. Also we don't have a pump to pump water off. Where do I get one of those and how much are they typically? Thanks so much and sorry for all of the questions!

We began closing last week for the first time on our big pool (working aweful hours so doing it step by step each day) Anyway, we ordered a micromesh instead of the solid cover it came with - having a large oval, I did not want to deal with the swamp in the center and how to keep the "tent" centered, will the pillow or tube stay inflated, etc. The clips are available at pool supply stores online for sure in the winter cover section. Lots use the 12" wide shrink wrap from the post office and just wrap all the way around. There are screw on tops with hooks for the 2 liter pop bottles if you want to hang those on the cable too - Lowes had them 4 - $1. We don't worry as we haven't any wind in our pool area, but lots of leaves.

The instructions for this micromesh (Arctic Armor) does not include putting a tube or anything under it, it must lay on the water surface. The rain this fall/next spring, snow and leaves will land on it, but the rain (already had some last night) goes right into the pool through it - leaves sit on top. I looked to see if the water comes back through and pools there but none did, it dropped in and cover stays above - just leaving the debris on top. We are not putting a cover on the front of the skimmer or a plug in the return - any additional water we get will drop out those holes, as all pipes and fittings are off, no place for the water to pool and freeze. I'm kind of following Matt's procedure as he lives north of me, so it should work Ok here too - except gotta have a cover to keep out leaves and debris.

So, we cleaned, added our chemicals to the instructions given in the stickies, then drained below the return about 2" (ends up about 4-5" or so below skimmer). We have removed all the hoses from the skimmer and return and from the filter to the panels and pool. Skimmer basket is stored and filter was drained. We are dissembling the pump and multiport today to bring in for the winter. A cover is going over the filter, which will stay out there with the drain plug left open so water can continue to drain. Solar cover was cleaned, rolled up on the mount VERY straight and neatly, bunggied, and will turn it each day to roll residual water out, white poly cover is going over that for the winter. Panel lines will be blown out today too. Ladder is drained out and ready to store.

Our only question is - do we put the lid on the top of the skimmer or leave it off or pull the winter cover over it?

We leave the skimmer lid on. (Make sure to have that styrofoam "gizmo" in there.) And we do not cover it with the Winter cover.

We use a pillow rather than innertubes. Lowes has them for under $10. We tie it off with two ropes to get it centered.
Our first year, we used the turnbuckle thing and cable that came with the cover to secure it. Didn't work very well. Last year I tied the cover down to each fence brace around the pool. Worked pretty well. This year, I'm taking the suggestion of another poster here. I'm ditching the turnbuckle thing and use 2" binder clips purchased at OffceMax.
Closed the pool yesterday. Pretty windy. Clips held with no problem. We'll see how it goes.
I don't like the idea of frozen jugs swinging around and banging against the side of the pool.