Injured tree? Any tree doctoring possible?

[mantispid]

So my wife backed into one of our most productive maple trees this morning, mangling part of our truck and ripping off about a 12 square inches of bark off the tree. Is there any sort of first aid that can be done to the tree? Antifungals, some sort of patch, etc? This is a fairly large tree that commonly supports 4-5 taps.

[Cabin]

I have been told never to treat a damaged tree. Left untreated the bark will grow over the injured wood. I for one would not tap that tree again until it has healed.

[mantispid]

Hmm... ok. Knowing how fast these things heal, I suspect it'll be a few seasons before that big of a spot grows over.

[maple flats]

That tree will heal itself, do nothing. I think you can tap as soon as the area heals so nothing looks fresh, you do not need to wait for bark to fill in. The edges of the damaged area will heal up and the bare wood will dry out. You can tap that tree next year, but stay clear of the damaged area.
4-5 taps? The current guidelines say never more than 3 taps. That may be a 2 tap (bucket) tree for a year or 2 then go to 3 taps. You may never be able to tap the damaged area, that depends on if the bark fills over the area, if yes, then tap above or below but not on the damage area. Even if it heals in completely, a tree that large grows so slowly that you may never get 2" of need wood over the damage, so you won't be able to drill a hole 1.5"-2" deep to tap that spot.

[OCHTO]

Is it advisable to paint the area with tree wound paint? It would prevent rot from getting in the center.

[maple flats]

paint is not indicated, nature does best for the tree.

[Cabin]

I have seen a few trees that were 'painted' and the bark has yet to grow over the painted area. After 5 years the back has not even started to cover the painted area.

[maple flats]

You said the injury is about 12 sq. inches. That is like 3" x 4" or such. An injury that size will fill in if left alone if the tree is otherwise healthy. Even if the bark never fully grows over that area the tree should still be fine. If after maybe 5 years the tree is not looking like it will completely fill in, you can paint the remaining area just to protect it from rot setting in.

[happy thoughts]

Don't paint or dress the wound. The area that was debarked will die to some degree but should seal itself off without any help. Paint will hold the moisture in and can lead to rot and insect damage. The following link from Texas A&M is a good read about tree wounds.

http://essmextension.tamu.edu/treecarekit/index.php/after-the-storm/tree-damage-and-hazard-assessment/tree-wounds/

They suggest trimming off any loose bark in a long oval shape if possible and just let nature take it's course. As others have said, I'd avoid tapping near that area in the future. If it were my tree I'd be a little more conservative in the number of taps I used even on a healthy tree but that's your decision.