Just realized I was pruning my maples in the fall for 6 years, and a guy in Tulsa tipped me off
Saw him pruning a silver maple in late spring and he said fall cuts leave wounds open all winter and he was cleaning up dieback from cuts just like mine, so what time of year are you all making your cuts on maples?
Wait, "fall cuts leave wounds open all winter"? That's wild, I always figured the tree was dormant so it wouldn't matter. So the guy was literally fixing damage from the same mistake you were making?