I love my RT-1250, no regrets on the pit whatsoever, but you might want to skip the factory cover. The RecTeq cover, at least on the RT-700/RT-1250, is so tight that it tends to tear on the edges of the side shelf. Mine tore after less than a week. RecTeq support is great - they immediately shipped me out a replacement, but I'm sure the replacement will be the same.

RecTeq did point me to a YouTube video on removing and putting on the cover. I was pretty much doing it the same way, but unfortunately the way they show to remove it over the side shelf doesn't work for me without it snagging on the side shelf.

If anyone is reading this while planning on purchasing a RecTeq, you might want to consider a cheaper, generic cover. I had read this advice prior to my purchase, but I didn't heed it - I wish I had! A lot of people have had the same issue, so hopefully this saves someone else the same trouble, and perhaps RecTeq will improve the cover design.

I would say the same thing about almost every manufacturers covers.  I have Traeger, MAK, and Memphis.  There are some posts on the board about covers bought on Amazon that people are very satisfied with and some posts about a place to get custom made covers that people were ecstatic about.  If you do a search for grill cover or smoker cover on here, you may find those posts.

You could probable send your old cover to Vinyl Coverings By Mel and tell her to make one a little larger.
Her covers last and last.

This is interesting. I would have to say the cover for my RT-2500 is the highest quality cover I have seen from a manufacturer. The recteq does have a lot of sharp points. Between the shelves and the dual stacks but I haven’t torn it yet. It is very thick and sturdy. I had a RT780 but never got a cover for it. The one came in the 2500 bundle but I was very happy with it until I got a permanent cover built.

My MAK 2 Star Cover has worked great for around 7 years and still going strong. 

I do think it's a good point that many manufacturer's covers leave a lot to be desired. While the RT-700/1250 cover is a high quality fabric, I think this particular cover isn't the best design, and I haven't really read complaints about other RecTeq covers/models, just this one.

A number of people have had a zipper sewn in on the front right corner. I might do that with the replacement cover as consensus seems to be that it solves the issue, though at some cost.