mail box vs town plow....

[billbill1]

They don't hit my mailbox, the force of the flying snow takes it out.

 

[davitk]

I think I'm going to do like BigE, get a PO box in town. Tired of getting the neighbors' mail, keep the ID theft thing in check, and let the plow guy have some breathing room.

 

[MikeD74T]

I had a problem with a state DOT driver winging snow hard enough to knock over the mailbox at my second home. I never get mail there but have house numbers on it for emergency response. Went to talk with the foreman & got a run around about mailbox being on the right of way (like everyone has their mailbox 15' off the pavement? ), can't control every driver all the time, etc. Later learned from friends that he thought it quite funny & was yukking it up at the local diner that day. Next time it got knocked over I went back to see him and explained that since I was sure none of his drivers would do intentional damage that maybe some were somehow too impaired to drive safely & perhaps drug/alcohol testing might be in order. Also indicated that I'd try to video the next event to send to the highway superintendant. Problem solved - no more broken mailbox.
Oddly enough a couple of years later the foreman wrecked a pickup during storm patrol & was terminated for DWI. MikeD74T

 

[cup149]

Here is Penndot's suggestion
http://www.ebrandywine.org/images/extras/Winterizing your mailbox.pdf

 

[chh]

Be careful with the extreme mailbox suggestions as tempting as they may be. Our problem in OK is hoodlums not plows, but when talking to a couple of postmasters they indicated that a mailbox mounting that won't give when hit by a vehicle in an accident makes you liable for the resulting injuries or death. I have 2 mailboxes at different adresses(1 business and 1 personal) after replacing 5 in the last year or so I gave up and moved to a PO box. In these days of ID theft and ect it is probably the safe bet anyway.

The sad part for me is that my parents or I have had a mailbox on the corner by my house since sometime in the 1940's. The one my parents originally put up was smashed in an auto accident in the mid 70's, the replacement lasted until the mid 90's and I can't count the number I've replaced in the last 10 years.

 

[DavidVT]

yes, it is that liability issue that keeps me from the concrete filled culvert idea, regardless of how much I'd love to do that

It will be some time before the ground is soft enough to install a new post.

Meanwhile I appreciate any good ideas.. Thanks for the ideas thus far!!

David

 

[4720 OWNER]

How about telling the postman that there was cookies in the mailbox for him but the snow plow driver hit the box and they scattered all over and then the birds ate them!!

Love to see govt bite its own tale and grin to tell about it!!

 

[scott_vt]

Iron pole mounted in the ground about 6 feet off the road. A pole from the mounted one out to the road with the mail box on it. Welded between the two a large coil spring from a car.

As the plow hits the box, the coil spring flexes out of the way then springs back when the pressure against it is released.

Just don't stand in the way when it springs back.

Evenin David,
ToadHill has the right idea ! Many of my neighbors at my Vt home use just that system to protect their mailbox !

 

[tomd999]

Hiya,

We go through about 1 per year between the towns big Cat grader with the highway wing and the assorted teenagers with broom sticks and bats. I was tempted to get one of the diamond plate "vandal proof" ones but 70 bucks is a lot. So I'll keep changing them out.

Here's a few funny ones though.


Tom

 

[Soundguy]

How about a post farther back from the street, with a arm supporting the box a few feet out from the post.

soundguy