"Do you find that you can dig/clear out with the loader pretty good all the time as long as you have room to make the hole as big as the tractor to prevent high-center, and ability to drive out?"

I just have a front loader (with 4WD) and I've never high centered it while digging. I have driven off some small embankments, but never had any problems.

The bucket is more than a loader. You can load the tractor onto a trailor without ramps. It'll also let you get into and out of places you can't normally drive a tractor. I've gotten it hellishly stuck a couple of times. Once in slimy pond muck 3' deep. Part of the pond cleaning / widening I mentioned earlier. When connecting the newly dug to the old, I misjudged how far I could get in once and dropped right down into the muck (layer of dirt dries on top, so can't always tell if it's firm). Right up to the floorboards and then "floated"; took 45 minutes to pull myself out an inch at a time with the bucket.