If the root system is the problem with standard Acer saccharum in your part of the country then and only then would grafting be advantageous.

I know Acer truncatum is the one down there. Call your local extention and ask if I haven't already answered your question, or, find out the closest lineage, or find out how Sugar Maple is normally propagated and go from there. My guess is that it is propagated as a rooted cutting which in that case, you are working with an impossibility.

I just don't know Maples well enough. Acer truncatum I do know off hand is compatible with Acer platanoides which doesn't mean junk. Acer saccharum grows fantastically here in our very humid and high temperature summers. I can't remember at the moment if your summers are humid or whether arid. Well, I've said all I can.

Dax

Todd,

Be sure if you find compatibility (Acer rubrum was tested and the grafts eventually outgrow and various problems arise) ...that the growth rate is similar as well.

Dax

Sugar maple rootstocks are propagated from seed. Named cultivars are usually bud grafted. U Vermont has papers online. Starting from cuttings is easy, but most don't survive the first winter. Key is to force a second flush of growth with gibberelin then overwinter in a root cellar above freezing. Grafting starts to look good.

It may be worth trying with other maples. You may find a combination that is dwarfing. And some really odd combinations come up. I'm engaged in a project right now grafting russian pears onto cotoneaster root stocks.