it could be scald .. but the damage is done in winter ... when the sun heats one side of the plant.. and then it refreezes at night .. and this happens over.. and over.. and over ... all winter long ...

one might guess this is on the SW side of the tree .. afternoon winter sun ...

be nice to know where you are in regard to that theory ...

12 feet is a huge transplant ... and it was probably field grown ... so it had at least 90% of its roots cut off to get to your house ... transplant shock on a tree this size.. can last a couple years ...

and such may have complicated the scald issue ...

ken

Iowa, faces east south east. Just appeared a few days ago. Planted 2 years ago. Growing great otherwise

Maybe some kind of animal?

sun scald.. and it could have happened the first winter ...

ken

So what's the best approach now?

Cracks like this on the east side of a tree are just like sun scald only the mechanism is reversed. Instead of rapid freezing, rapid thawing is the culprit. The frozen bark is hit by the sun on the east side and thaws much more rapidly than on the rest of the tree, thereby causing the splits. Those in the photo look small enough so that he tree ought to be able to deal with them on its own. Some sort of shading next winter is definitely a good idea.

The first winter I had a tree tube around it, this past winter I figured it would be ok. Lesson learned. Should I put any protection on it now? And thing you guys recommend to keep insects out?

The best thing to do is to allow the tree to deal with it.
Anything you try/do may well complicate things.

Yeah only thing so far is I out some fertilizer spikes in the ground, figured of anything would help it would be nutrients. Anything you guys recommend that's readily available to help keep bugs away?

Somebody pass me the smelling salts-we're talking about fertilizer spikes again! Can't somebody somehow get these ridiculous things off the market? I guess I can answer my own question there....if somebody could, I would have by now. Even if there is a reason to provide nutrients, placing large amounts of these salts in one tiny little area of the root zone makes no sense, from the plant's point of view. Simply spreading (broadcasting) fertilizer over the top of the soil or mulch layer or what have you is the easiest and the most effective way to deliver nutrients to the upward-facing feeder roots which lie directly beneath the surface.

Meanwhile, in other news, frost cracks, ring shakes, and other cold weather anomalies have never been correlated-in my experience-with any kind of nutrient deficiency. Out in the woods, where maples originated, they are among the most shade-tolerant of trees, as a group. This does suggest they may not be especially good at handling full. direct sun while in their youth. Hence, the many tree wraps, tubes, paints, etc. Might be worth a try in this instance, although it must be said too that most maples that people plant do not end up needing such treatment.

+oM

I'm not sure any of that is sunscald at all. My red maple has had similar markings as it's grown. IMO they are stretch marks being made in the young bark as the tree grows. The tree bark will continue to break and heal. I've had this happen to parts of the tree that are not facing the sun.