Well I work the 2nd shift and to nite I came home to find some A-hole took out my mail box. i live on a 2 lane highway and about every winter some body has to hit it . It is off the road way around 5 FEET sooooo My neighbor just happens to have a 3 point post auger and I want to fix this mess agian any one have any good ideas what to put out there in the cold that would hold up . thought about some 5" square tube and weld up some thing but I only have about 3 foot handy.any one got any pics???
- Thread starter ericy
- Start date
Janicholson
Well-known Member
Weld a truck coil spring to your metal, sink the metal in concrete. Put a inch thick plate on top to mount the box. Jim
Bob Huntress
Member
Heavy 3" pipe welding into a U that tightly snugs around the mailbox and extends into the ground on either side where it is set in concrete. As the younguns strike the box, generally from a moving car, they will hit an immovable object. One near the front and one near the rear of the mailbox should help the products of poor parenting learn what their mommies should have taught them.
I had a somewhat different reason for going as heavy, as I did several yr's ago. several neighbors, and I, were having our mailbox posts, and boxes demolished, by vehicles, and you never saw a wrecked vehicle present, come morning. One neighbor told me that it was a game that the young 4x4 crowd was doing with their mud crawler machines. I had two boxes ruined before I found out this tidbit. I drilled me a 3' posthole and tamped in a 6ft piece of 6" steel pipe, filled with sackcreete. I used 2, 12" long pieces of angle iron welded to the top of the post, which I drilled to fit bolts to hold my rural box, that allowed me to fill the post with concrete, between the two angle irons. That didn't keep a joker from hitting it, but we got to see the wrecker removing the blazer, from the post, he had wedged in his front suspension!
I had the same problem years ago, lost 6 mailboxes in one year.
New mailbox is a heavy plastic one, mounted on 6" well casing, set in 1/2 yard of concrete, going 4' below ground level.
Has been hit several times, but they never drive away from it, always takes a wrecker to tow them away.
One guy was going so fast he actually ripped it out of the ground, concrete and all.
Hit it on the passenger side, took out the entire side of his car. It took them 2 days to get all the car parts out of there. No, didn't hurt him a bit, He was drunk.
I just opened up the hole with the backhoe and replanted the mail box. Hasn't been hit again in 8 years.
New mailbox is a heavy plastic one, mounted on 6" well casing, set in 1/2 yard of concrete, going 4' below ground level.
Has been hit several times, but they never drive away from it, always takes a wrecker to tow them away.
One guy was going so fast he actually ripped it out of the ground, concrete and all.
Hit it on the passenger side, took out the entire side of his car. It took them 2 days to get all the car parts out of there. No, didn't hurt him a bit, He was drunk.
I just opened up the hole with the backhoe and replanted the mail box. Hasn't been hit again in 8 years.
This is true. Couple years ago they widened the highway in front of my place. Came home one night & all the mailbox posts on the road had been changed (except the compliant ones) without out any of us giving permission or even knowing it was going to be done!!!
Contractor replaced with wooden 4x4's with treated board plank on top that let box stick out couple feet from the post. I'd had several hits too & had 4" drill pipe piece w/channel iron welded to it, which they left for me stacked with all the other posts at that spot.
Contractor replaced with wooden 4x4's with treated board plank on top that let box stick out couple feet from the post. I'd had several hits too & had 4" drill pipe piece w/channel iron welded to it, which they left for me stacked with all the other posts at that spot.
Anonymous-0
Well-known Member
A piece of railway line,concreted in. you may as well reciprocate.
willie in mn
Well-known Member
Like Tony s mentioned below, check your local/state laws about solid objects on ROW. If anyone gets hurt you could be in for big liability lawsuit. I know, it is a bad deal to have vandals knock the box down, but it is a fact of life. Under new standards, anything stronger than a wood 4x4 is not allowed.
Street lights have to be on "breakaway" bases. Even the ends of guard rails have to be built so they crumple & absorb impact or sloped to divert any vehicle that hits them. That has been the standard for 30-40 years.
Couple years ago the county road here was rebuilt/upgraded. Part of the project was everyone got the new "swingaway" mailboxes. Cost was included as part of the project, not assessed to the property owners.
Willie
Street lights have to be on "breakaway" bases. Even the ends of guard rails have to be built so they crumple & absorb impact or sloped to divert any vehicle that hits them. That has been the standard for 30-40 years.
Couple years ago the county road here was rebuilt/upgraded. Part of the project was everyone got the new "swingaway" mailboxes. Cost was included as part of the project, not assessed to the property owners.
Willie
I have several comments on this.
1. Check with state law/local law. You may have to have a breakaway post.
2. If no breakaway post is required. Then...
3. Make a setup like you described with steel post. Set back from the road. I have seen where a guy used a large old tractor tire in the ground with the mailbox on top of the tire. I have also seen a large coil spring put in the ground and the box mounted on top of the spring.
4. Or....save all the hassle and get a PO box like I did 5 years ago.
If the road commision hits your "all steel" mailbox with the plow blade while plowing snow you might have to pay for damages. Just a thought there.
My neighbor made a large all tube steel with channel iron set up to hold 5 mailboxs, this was put in 3 years ago. Well a few weeks back some guy ran into it and you can see pieces of the car laying in the grass off the road, jolted the 5" sq. beams out of the ground too.....Oops.
The PO box at the post office works for me, my mail is safe, at $35 per year.
1. Check with state law/local law. You may have to have a breakaway post.
2. If no breakaway post is required. Then...
3. Make a setup like you described with steel post. Set back from the road. I have seen where a guy used a large old tractor tire in the ground with the mailbox on top of the tire. I have also seen a large coil spring put in the ground and the box mounted on top of the spring.
4. Or....save all the hassle and get a PO box like I did 5 years ago.
If the road commision hits your "all steel" mailbox with the plow blade while plowing snow you might have to pay for damages. Just a thought there.
My neighbor made a large all tube steel with channel iron set up to hold 5 mailboxs, this was put in 3 years ago. Well a few weeks back some guy ran into it and you can see pieces of the car laying in the grass off the road, jolted the 5" sq. beams out of the ground too.....Oops.
The PO box at the post office works for me, my mail is safe, at $35 per year.
MarkB_MI
Well-known Member
- Location
- Motown USA
I would not install a hard post. Although I sympathize with you, and I've had a few mailboxes taken out, too, the potential liability is too great. Particularly if you're on a road with high speed traffic.
oldironman
Member
An old milk can filled with concrete will do the job and if it gets hit just set it back up. I've found one car on top of the milk can and his oil pan beside it.
A place I used to work had a problem with the mailbox frequently getting knocked down in the winter. We figured it was the way the plow came out of the street perpendicular to where the box was hitting it with snow. Protective shields didn't help. He finally got fed up and put in a section of railroad rail set in concrete. One day we came in and saw the post bent over at a 45 degree angle and light pickup truck parts and oil all over the front drive entrance. We tried tracking the oil trail but without results. Found the truck a week later at a body shop on that perpendicular street. That's when we found out what was really happening.
There was this nudie bar down the street and when the drunks got out, if there was a slight snow on the ground, they didn't notice that there was a slight dogleg in the road (everything white). They would just drive straight and flatten the mailbox. This time a Toyota pickup hit it dead center and it literally cut the truck in half. As God must protect drunks and little chrildren it was fortunate the guy didn't get hurt. One more foot to the right and he certainly would have been killed. Could have been quite a law suit. After that we were able to talk the post office into letting us move the mailbox 15 feet into the drive (it was sort of a drive thru anyway) and far from the traffic. No more problems. Stupid but true story.
Jim
There was this nudie bar down the street and when the drunks got out, if there was a slight snow on the ground, they didn't notice that there was a slight dogleg in the road (everything white). They would just drive straight and flatten the mailbox. This time a Toyota pickup hit it dead center and it literally cut the truck in half. As God must protect drunks and little chrildren it was fortunate the guy didn't get hurt. One more foot to the right and he certainly would have been killed. Could have been quite a law suit. After that we were able to talk the post office into letting us move the mailbox 15 feet into the drive (it was sort of a drive thru anyway) and far from the traffic. No more problems. Stupid but true story.
Jim
gene bender
Well-known Member
You can be liable for it so be car4eful what you use for a post there are laws some places for that.
Kestrel in CT
Member
I'd put something heavy duty in and not worry too much about the liability.
I don't see "breakaway" telephone poles or "breakaway" trees.
I don't see "breakaway" telephone poles or "breakaway" trees.
I would go with some kind of break-a-way type, your county may even require it. Sooner or later some clown will hit it again, and, around here, when they move a building they have to be pulled out, so a break-a-way will be handy there. Don't spend money on a fancy box, I have hammered out many boxes and used them again.
Ericy,
we just went thru a real big bruhaha in our township over a brick-made mailbox post and it is bringing up big problems; and all of them are eventually going to cost far too much money and acrimony.
The whole idea of real solid mail box posts is idiocy at best...lawyers find these cases easy sources of income. Solid posts are potential financial time bombs ready to happen.
Figure out a way to make or purchase a swinging post and your troubles will be over. There's even a small firm in our town that now sells something called "A Swinger"(and I am not the owner or even a close friend).
My dad had a swinger at his farm driveway for over 30 yrs, it's been hit and ruined a couple cheap mailboxes, but the swinger is still in used.
LA in WI
we just went thru a real big bruhaha in our township over a brick-made mailbox post and it is bringing up big problems; and all of them are eventually going to cost far too much money and acrimony.
The whole idea of real solid mail box posts is idiocy at best...lawyers find these cases easy sources of income. Solid posts are potential financial time bombs ready to happen.
Figure out a way to make or purchase a swinging post and your troubles will be over. There's even a small firm in our town that now sells something called "A Swinger"(and I am not the owner or even a close friend).
My dad had a swinger at his farm driveway for over 30 yrs, it's been hit and ruined a couple cheap mailboxes, but the swinger is still in used.
LA in WI
Ky. Hauler
Member
People up the road built a brick mailbox holder. It got knocked down. They built it bigger and it too got knocked down in less than a week. It was right on the road that made a slight left and than a right with a hill. To fast and you cut the corner and bought the mailbox. LOL
john in la
Well-known Member
Telephone poles are not usually right next to the street like a mail box.
The county usually cuts down trees close to the road.
I would love to put up a mail box a dozer would have problems pushing down but in the sue happy world where everything is always the other persons fault it is just not worth it.
One neighbor right in a curve; put his mail box on the fence corner post and built a drive (wide spot) for the mail man to get to it. Solved his problem.
The county usually cuts down trees close to the road.
I would love to put up a mail box a dozer would have problems pushing down but in the sue happy world where everything is always the other persons fault it is just not worth it.
One neighbor right in a curve; put his mail box on the fence corner post and built a drive (wide spot) for the mail man to get to it. Solved his problem.
A BIG THANKS TO ALL I got up this moring and went out to HAVE AT IT I was able to use an old bumber jack that I had in tn barn and tied a chain around the broken post pulled it out of the concret made up a new post and put her all back up 2 hours latter and the mail lady should be by as I have bills made out to send LOL LOL.
Anonymous-0
Well-known Member
Concrete bridges are ok though?
MarkB_MI
Well-known Member
- Location
- Motown USA
I don't know how they do it in Oz, but up here in the states pretty much anything immovable near the roadway is shielded by guard rails and/or sand-filled containers.
I didn't know until I just now checked, but those sand-filled containers are called "Fitch Barriers", named after the race car driver who invented them.
Fitch Barrier.
I didn't know until I just now checked, but those sand-filled containers are called "Fitch Barriers", named after the race car driver who invented them.
Fitch Barrier.
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