Is there a way (or could there be a way added to future updates of Sketchup) where you could toggle which scale points show up when using the scale tool. I rarely ever use points other than the ones circled in the image. So if I want to quickly scale the length of a length of timber I have to zoom in enough for the cursor to snap to the central scale grip on the end face of the timber which is a pain. Could there be an option to display basic scale grips and another to display all scale grips? Or does anyone know a plugin/workaround that would help?
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You can disable scaling grips one by one in the Dynamic Component Attributes dialog.
Do you mean that you want to change the length? If so, why wouldn’t you use the Push/Pull or Move tool?
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That will change all instances of a component.
For timber, I would perhaps leave only one grip active, the one to represent Length. For the dimensions of the cross section I would perhaps add attributes, perhaps with built in size options.
As a completely different way of approaching it, you could try Steve Baumgartner’s and my plugin Wood Framing. That allows you to draw different sizes of rectangular wood pieces very quickly, and to change between your own set of defined cross section sizes, which can be either or both of standard US/Canadian or UK nominal softwood sizes, and/or your own custom finished sizes, with a R-click.
See SketchUp Plugins | PluginStore | SketchUcation
If you don’t have a SketchUcation account, you can create a free one to get access to the Plugin Store.
Here’s a copy of the Quick Start documentation:
Start the tool
Choose from menu Draw/Wood Framing/Draw Framing or click on the first icon in the toolbar to start drawing with the default size of wood.
Select the size to draw
Change the size to draw using a right click anywhere in the SU modelling window, and/or to choose between US/Canadian and UK nominal sizes with their different planing allowances; the size drawn will be the actual size after planing allowances are deducted from the nominal size.
Set the plane of the profile to draw
The profile will be drawn by default in the plane of the face over which the mouse is hovering when your first click is made, unless you have set an axis, face or parallel-to-face lock (see below).
If you have difficulty positioning the mouse over a face without losing a corner or edge inference, press and hold the Shift key with the mouse anywhere over the face, to lock the plane to the face. Check that the status bar shows ’ - locked to face plane’.
You can use an Arrow key to lock the plane normal to any axis (in the current drawing context) - whether in the main model space, or inside a component opened for editing - in the same way as locking a native tool.
Tap Right arrow to lock the plane normal to the red (X) axis, Left arrow to lock normal to the green (Y) axis, or Up arrow to lock the plane normal to the blue (Z) axis.
Tap the Down arrow to toggle a lock to the plane of a face over which the mouse is hovering (and showing an ‘on face’ inference) when you tap the key, or hold the Shift key down to do the same but only while the key is held down.
If there is no face under the mouse, but it is in ‘free space,’ one of the default model planes will be chosen, depending on the angle of view and the drawing context, and the profile will be drawn parallel to an axis.
If the view is predominantly from the top, the profile will be drawn (in the current context and axis directions) in the red/green plane normal to the blue (Z) axis; if predominantly from the front or back, in the red/blue plane normal to the green (Y) axis; or if from the side, in the green/blue plane normal to the red (X) axis.
To lock the profile onto a face parallel to the current face, tap the Alt (Option/Alt on Mac) key to toggle ‘locked to parallel plane’ on or off.
The selected direction lock (if any) is shown in the status bar.
To release a lock, either tap the same key as you used to set the lock to toggle it off, release the Shift key if you held it down to get the lock, or tap any other locking key to set a new lock.
Position the starting point
Use normal inferencing to pick an existing corner, face or edge to locate the origin of the new piece to draw in relation to any existing geometry. Then click to position the starting point in the previously set plane.
Change the starting point or plane of the profile to draw Press the Esc key to start the tool again if you need to change the starting point or the plane of the profile.
Fix orientation of the profile
Move the mouse around the picked reference point to orient the cross section in the selected plane, which will show as a coloured rectangle, the size of the currently selected wood profile. Zoom in if necessary to see the orientation more clearly.
Change the size if necessary by a right click.
Fix the orientation by a second click.
Define the length
Move the mouse to extend the profile along its length, which will be shown by a ‘rubber band’ coloured outline and a (text) length in the Measurement box.
Fix the length either by typing a value in any format valid as a length in SU, or by clicking the mouse, and optionally using inferencing to any existing element in the drawing.
If you don’t add units to the value typed, current model units will be assumed.
You’re done!
That’s it. Your piece has been drawn in three clicks and a few key presses.
Authors Steve Baumgartner and John McClenahan, v1.0 2019-07-31 © 2019
Some consistency with the bounding box sequence toggle with the Move tool would be quit handy and welcome, especially with multiple objects selected.
That would also cover this FR
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I do occasionally but it’s quite a few extra clicks:
Push pull>> double click into group/component, P (pull tool), P again (if wrong face auto selected), pull/push, ESC/click out
vs
Scale >> S (Scale), click and drag to point you want to snap to
Not gonna lie - did not know about this 
Have you seen its demo clip?
There is also this plugin I use, similar with curic’s plugin:
https://extensions.sketchup.com/extension/38d7ffb9-fcac-41b4-a1fa-0a04b4c13943/m-moser-scale-behaviour-control