Hmm, the interesting post with the link to the assertion that wood contains the same moisture midwinter or spring is gone. I've always thought that wood that was cut in the winter took less time to season than wood cut in the spring or summer, but I've never performed the experiment of measuring moisture content of a given species cut at different times of year. The question "where does the water go?" is misleading because water has no trouble going someplace in a tree. When it is in leaf the process is called transpiration (
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Transpiration). If you consider the trick of letting a felled firewood tree lie until the leaves dry it makes sense that this process could remove a great deal of water from the wood. But in a standing live tree, is it possible that the fact that the sap is moving does not necessarily mean that there is more of it, that the wood tissues retain the same amount of water year round? Some moisture doubtless is lost from the bark, but what would prevent the tree from replacing that moisture? Well, being frozen for one, but perhaps the water being frozen would also prevent it from being lost.
Granted, it's not midwinter, but the leaves have been off the trees here for a few weeks. Three days ago I cut down four or five small, 8-12" maples. I've been splitting them small to dry for kindling, and I was struck by how heavy and wet the logs seemed -- before this thread came up. I realize that it's a commonly held belief that it's best to cut wood "when the sap is down," but I find it interesting that this belief has been challenged. I've always believed it myself, but I'm willing to consider the possibility that it is erroneous to think that because the sap is not actively moving that it is not present. Does anyone else have any sources to support this or actual data to refute it? Perhaps those with moisture meters would be willing to measure the moisture content of splits felled at different times throughout the year, or perhaps it's already been done.
Who knows, it might actually be most effective in terms of drying to fell when the trees have leaves to pull moisture from the wood. I'm not arguing for either side, I'm simply curious.
Jack