I'm not the trade guy you're looking for, but my uncle is. We're pretty close and he's been a sort of surrogate father to me over the years. As a consequence, we've discussed your question in considerable detail.

Short answer? No, don't go into a trade if you can get professional work instead.

Long answer? Tom was a miner for nearly twenty years, after that, he became a highly skilled welder. This guy was routinely pulling down $50+/hr plus travel, expenses, and occasionally rent on his longer jobs. He was making that kind of money in the 1990's! He works harder than just about anyone I know, and everyone in three states wanted him when they couldn't afford a fuck-up. Companies competed for his time.

Aside from missing a good deal of his daughter's childhood, Tom had to give up his hobby (ranked #3 in the nation in his sport at one point), spent cumulative years away from his wife, and, when he finally gave it all up, he had to spend his life savings on medical bills to repair a ruined back. After ~ 3 years on disability, Tom finally took the government's school credit and chased down a degree.

Now, he's still traveling for work, still in high demand as a consultant/contractor, but he's making 2-3x the money and not ruining his body in the process. His employers routinely pay for his wife to join him on work trips because they're afraid he'll retire if he doesn't get to spend enough time with her.

When Tom found out I was thinking about dropping out of college, his first advice to me was "Don't.", when he found out why I was dropping out, his advice became "Go back as soon as you possibly can, never put it off, never let yourself get distracted. If you wait until you're fifty, you're going to regret it."

What people need to take away from the trade/profession argument is that certain professions aren't worth the money. Having a trade isn't the only route to financial security, and neither is having a degree. You have to be diligent with every opportunity, find the options that make the most sense for you.

Tom is in his mid-sixties now and he has more to show from the last decade than he did for the five decades before it. His family lives in a house they own, his wife and daughter are going to college, he has savings, and he has the time/money to enjoy his life. Last year he even bought a private plane because he wanted to get his pilot's license again.