Webwrangler,
I find that I have much better winter traction when towing the trailer than I do without it. Even with the Hensley hitch (which does a much better job of transferring weight to the front axle than the Reese ever did) , there is still a lot more weight on the rear axle when the trailer is hooked up.
Of course, with highs forecast in the 60's here for the rest of the week, unless we can get our friends in the NE to share some of their snow, it doesn't look like this will be an issue until next season....
Steve