Here are some pictures of the bed of my '50 COE. The bed is made of reclaimed 60+ year old Arizona power poles. These were shiplapped (overlapped) as we found replicating the original tongue in groove was too difficult on a small table saw. The picture shown is around 12 years old and the bed has held up well despite hauling pine needles, branches and firewood. The maximum load was me and 27 of my son's friends to town for the fourth of July.
The bedside verticals are an odd size, so they were custom made, as well. I copied the original dimensions which were tight to the sides of the stake pockets but about 3/8 inch smaller than the front to back dimension (see close up photo of bed side). This makes it easier to install and un-install the bed side.
Instead of chains across the top of the original bed there was old hardware that slips over the top of the bedside, connected to the other side by a board. This keeps the bed sides from bowing outward when fully loaded. Kent
