A great topic,
Wayne, I've been doing the same thing for a couple years, here is what I've done so far.
Trailer as well as pickup.
Load the smaller wood on the truck, nothing goes on the truck that needs to be split. Roll larger rounds onto the trailer via the drop down tailgate intended for drive on/off. Then load liftable, but still decent sized rounds on top of the larger roll on stuff. My trailer cost me about 1K, and is a joy to use compared to loading all wood onto a pickup.
Another way the trailer helps me is that I made a sawhorse built low to rest that tailgate on when I back it up to the splitter. I roll several rounds onto the tailgate where they can be rolled onto the splitter, then split.
Saws,
I'd used home owner type saws all my life until I traded this last time. God, I should have made that change many years ago. A pro grade saw is both lighter and more powerful + higher RPMs than homeowner types. Also have more than one saw, one for bucking and one for limbing, though a mid sized saw is also handy.
Another thing that can be done with saws is what's called "woods porting". Boiled down it amounts to squeezing xtra hp from the saw, not a race saw set up by any means, but more power for same or slightly less weight is also good. But unless you're far better at motor work than I am, this requires finding a good mechanic to do this work. Still might be worth doing, but I've not had any of my own saws done (yet) so I can't really say just how worth while this may be.
Splitter,
I would suggest a horizontal only splitter rather than a V/H type. The horizontal type has the wedge on the splitters end, and just a push pad on the end of the ram. Then build yourself a table that the wood splits drop onto as the rounds are split. Now you do not need to bend down to the ground to gather them. If the table is made 5-6ft. long you can do several rounds with ease prior to stacking the splits. Last thing to note regarding the splitter is that a horizontal unit can take a 4 way wedge, another time/effort saver worth doing (cost is now $300 for a Iron & Oak 4 way wedge, but worth it over time.)
The costs, (for trailer, better saws & 4 way wedge splitter table materials) taken over a couple of years is easy to handle & very well worth doing. I figure my costs for all these things at less than 2.5K, hardly a issue when you consider how much easier it's made the job when compared to using a heavier saw, wedge sledge/maul & pickup only. If these changes only allow me one added year of wood cutting I'll nearly break even, and I suspect they will allow me much more than that provided my health stays good.
I'm sure you may well have some of the things I've listed already, but just sharing what I've done, or am considering doing.
