I would have lost that bet, I hunted around and found 1 other Aspen that looks identical to yours, also no deck holes, Also a 96, that and a couple of super heavy trailers. the hydraulic neck design has changed a fair bit over the years, my '85 Peerless has a pretty strange set up.After looking at the pictures more closely, the hydraulic cylinders are mounted in a peculiar fashion. I'm not sure how they detach from the deck, and it looks like the black area around the bottom of the rams is the height control.
Longhood, I have a 1996 Aspen 50 ton that has no lightening holes on the deck, just so you know.View attachment 1183