If in snow country, a cab would be a must have. Contrary to what some believe, a cab is not as fragile in the woods as one would think. If you watch what you are doing and dont drive under a low limb that would damage the top, most cabs will easily move limbs to the side. They might scratch the paint or plastic a bit, but judicious use of the FEL to part limbs make travelling in light tree cover possible. This being said, there is nothing wrong with trimming up all your trees to allow driving under them if you need to. I have trimmed up all my trees so I can drive my LS with cab under them without touching anything. A good pole saw is a must have for anyone with a forest and a tractor. An ounce of prevention will save time and effort in the long run.
As for removing nuisance trees, nothing beats a backhoe, unless it is an excavator. If you can afford the extra cost, you will find lots of uses for it on your new property. I have had mine since 2010 and still find uses for it. After my house was built, I used it a lot for installing remote water faucets, putting in a sprinkler system, digging up rocks (Arkansas has lots of rocks) and of course removing tons of sweet gum and thorn trees from the property. I also use it from time to time to keep my drainage ditches and creek cleaned out. While an excavator would work better at ditch cleaning, they are pretty much a one trick pony and can only dig whereas a TLB can dig, move material and convert to a normal tractor for other duties.
