All else being equal it is more important to get morning sun than afternoon. It will dry off the leaves quicker and help prevent disease.

You definitely want them to be fully dormant before you move them. Here in our mild Pacific NW I would move them in the fall so the roots can establish over the winter.

I'm not sure if that holds for zone 5. If it gets too cold I'd imagine the tree might be more susceptible to damage after transplant.

How often does the water sit over the trees? If it hasn't hurt them so far, maybe they would be okay where they are. Did you have a rainy or dry summer? Northwoodswis

You could leave them in the same area but dig them up and plant on a raised bed at least 12 inches high. Pears are pretty water tolerant but a raised bed would help.

Northwoodswis4 - We had a major downpour in the spring and they sat, under water, for about 2 weeks. The temp. also dropped causing the water to freeze for about 3 days. They survived and leafed but did not produce but they are only 2 years old. We also had a "normal" storm last week and they sat under water for about 3 days. I've read about root rot in fruit trees and after the last storm am worried.

Fruitnut - Have you ever done this? I'm going to Google it but would love to know more. The location as far as sun and property logistics goe is perfect so I will definitely look into that option. Thanks!

K Day my soil has always drained well enough or I could arrange surface drainage. But raised beds for fruit trees is a proven practice. They only question is how tall and big to make the bed. It could be a mound for each tree or a row for several trees.

Pears and plums tend to be most tolerant fruit species to wet feet. That isn't to say standing water won't drown them but just that raising them would be bound to work well.

Can you divert the water?

I too have a pear tree that gets flooded with standing water every spring and sometimes in summer. It doesn't seem to mind.

Thanks to everyone for sharing your thoughts and insight. I'm very excited about the prospect of keeping them in place but in a raised bed. I think that will work b/c we're putting in a swale next spring which will divert some of the water and the raised bed will raise it enough to keep the important parts dry. I'm thinking 12"-18" should do the trick and I've just read about High Density and succession planting; who knew?!?! Anyway, thank you again for everyone's input, I really appreciate it! :)