Welcome HondoLane! My silver maples look just like your photos do - shaggy bark and large open canopies. They constantly shed branches with every wind storm. Kind of a lawn clean-up pain, however, they have been excellent sap producers for me over the years. One of them even gives me 6% sugar in the sap when the conditions are good. Tap those trees, just make sure that you are getting into the good wood of the tree as the shaggy bark can be pretty thick. ENJOY!!!
The buds on the silver maples are large even in November, so don't be worried that they look fat in January. I usually pull my silver maple taps about a week before the sugar maples are done and have never experienced 'buddy sap' doing that.
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