Ever cut down a tree, and then try to drag it home, all by hand? If you have you'll know why they do it in winter, and sometimes don't wear much. It's a LOT of work. It's usually easier to drag things across frozen ground rather than through mud, and the cold helps keep you from getting over heated. I will say I've never seen anybody cutting trees wearing flip-flops, though. Dangerous, that...
Freshly cut wood requires not only drying out, but some seasoning before it's really useful for guitars. Seasoning calls for putting the wood through moisture and temperature cycling. Traditionally this has been done in open sided sheds that keep off rain and snow, but allow for circulation of air and changes in temperature and humidity. Although the wood would naturally get frozen in northern climates I'm not sure there's any benefit for seasoning to temperatures below freezing. As someone who has used a wood stove for heat for a long time, I can say that it's usually easier to split wood when it's frozen, and that might be a benefit when you're making split billets to resaw.
Last edited by Alan Carruth; 01-17-2017 at 02:26 PM.
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