Gardening and Horticulture - Need Tree Help

I have a red maple tree that lost some limbs (4" diameter) a couple of weeks ago. Yesterday I climbed up a made some clean cut where the branches were.

When I went back down the tree I noticed that the tree had a split in the 'Y' of the trunk. I was about 3/4" wide and was about 3 feet long (approx 1/2 of the trunk too the 'Y').

Is there a way to put a cable or strap around the tree to hold it together?

The tree is about 25 years old and I don't want to lose it.

For this, I would call an arborist. He can make a better determination of the survival of the tree and the best treatment. Some of the larger tree services may employ one on staff.

Hope this helps.

Why did the tree limbs die? 4" diameter limbs are good sized limbs.
Did they just break off?
Now the trunk has a split.

Something is going on with this tree and we cannot diagnose it from here.
Putting a strap on it is like putting a bandage on an infection. You gotta treat the cause first.

We had some severe weather with high winds. I lost another tree and the neighborhood was a disaster zone. I don't *think* the tree was split before the high winds.

I had a split tree once and used two lag bolts driven from each side of the split to dram the two halves together. A large fender washer on the head of the bolts kept the bolt from going all the way into the bark. Years later and the tree is growing around the bolts.
Tough love. This is what you have to do in hurricane country. Frequent improvising.