They scheme wagers, trading valuable metal for timber (7-7)
I believe the answer is:
wheeler-dealers
'they scheme wagers trading valuable' is the definition.
I know nothing about this answer so I can't tell whether it can be defined by this definition.
'metal for timber' is the wordplay.
I cannot really see how this works, but
'metal' could be 'er' (Er is an example) and 'er' is found in the answer.
'timber' could be 'deal' (deal is a kind of timber) and 'deal' is found in the answer.
The remaining letters 'wheelers' is a valid word which might be clued in a way I don't see.
This may be the basis of the clue (or it may be nonsense).
Can you help me to learn more?
(Another definition for wheeler-dealers that I've seen is " Scheming persons".)