Zone 6a Maple tree collecting.

[Gunstock]

How much stronger is a Maple trunk 2" thick vs. a 5" thick trunk in the ground growing wild?
There's @ least half a dozen all growing in the same grove/stand of varying sizes of Maples so nobody would miss it if I took just one.
So if I cut it now and just let it grow in the ground where it is until next year maybe I'll dig it up if it survives the next 12 months, but would such a small one make it until next year? "Any thoughts from anyone is appreciated"

 

[Waltron]

I'm in zone 6a, I collected a sugar maple this year, and last year. They are both doing great. You are passed your window of opportunity. what you can do is take a look at the roots, figure out where they are going, trench a half circle around the roots, or a full circle even, about 8-10 inches out. fertilize the tree in some way to promote vigorous growth. go back next year, before bud break, chop and collect at that time. dont chop the trunk now, trench some roots if you must.

 

[Gunstock]

I'm in zone 6a, I collected a sugar maple this year, and last year. They are both doing great. You are passed your window of opportunity. what you can do is take a look at the roots, figure out where they are going, trench a half circle around the roots, or a full circle even, about 8-10 inches out. fertilize the tree in some way to promote vigorous growth. go back next year, before bud break, chop and collect at that time. dont chop the trunk now, trench some roots if you must.

They just went full bloom so I take it that's to late....and they are all really cramped by the canopy because the narrowest trunk isn't much shorter than the 6"inch trunks. I looked closer today and there are over a dozen of them. To me the narrowest one only one 1 1/2" has the best taper, but it's so puny trunkwise. Some of the others have been bent over by snow plows and have knee bulging. Don't know if I want to bother looking at the roots either because some groups are so close to the big ones they could be attached to the root ball, and it's a jumbled, tangled mess of roots. These are the messes I'm trying to avoid when I do collect one!
So you say don't chop the trunk now. Why wait? I thought now would be a good time to chop the trunk and fertilize it all summer long where it sits in the ground.
I gotta go read a collecting tree specimens blog somewhere maybe.