I don't have the ice issues that some of you have. However, I always cover my 18' x 36' ag pool to keep the many leaves from the five oak trees that are over or around my pool from ending up on the pool bottom.

I've always put in pillows to minimize the "oceans" that form on top of the cover from rains. I've tried all kinds of sizes and combinations of pillows over 4 seasons, and each season I use less pillows - I believe next year I'm going to go with a single 4' x 15' pillow across the width of the pool in the center - that would be my recommendation.