The part about "wake it up" is the real problem here, because the tree did wake up, just not the way he meant. Topping dumps all the stored food the maple had in that cut wood into a panic of new growth, so the tree spends everything it saved in one season instead of over ten. That flush of water sprouts is the tree burning its savings account, and when it runs dry the limbs start dying from the tips back. What a lot of guys miss is the roots. Those big surface roots under that lawn were feeding the same canopy you just cut, and now nothing is pulling sugar down to them, so they start to starve and rot in place. By the time the dieback shows up top, you're already two years behind on a root system that quit. So when the homeowner asks about the grass, the honest answer is that the shade was the cheap part. The tree was holding that slope, that soil, and that house's summer cooling bill, and now they're paying for all of it whether they see it or not.

Had a similar deal with my chainsaw years back, was running a file way too hard and chewing up teeth, then some old boy at the shop showed me how to touch it up by hand with a guide. Took twice as long but the chain lasted way longer and cut straighter. Still keep a stone in the truck for my work knives too. Power gets it done quick but you pay for it somewhere down the line.