Indestructable Rural Mailbox?

[Deere Dude]

I put a 2' dia. x 18" high concrete cylinder with a 4x6 post out of the top and set a box on top extended forward a little so the concrete wouldn't hurt a car door. It was daunting to look at and the postmaster told me to get rid of it because it is a hazard and someone would get killed if they hit it at highway speeds. I didn't tell the redneck postmaster it was only 18" high and not buried, I just lifted it up and moved it back 3 feet and extended the mailbox toward the road to make up the difference.

That held up for 15 years until we moved and I left it.

 

[k0ua]

Not long after we moved here, a new million dollar house was built nearby. By the way here in southwest Missouri, a Million dollar house is one heck of a house. Not like in California and some other areas. Anyway, out by the road they had a huge solid Brick mailbox built to match the house. It probably cost at least $500 to $1000 dollars to build. It was a thing of beauty, and strong as a battleship. I figured it would be a matter of time before some drunk would run his car into it. A few years later they did. They hit the darn thing at a a pretty good clip judging from the remains. I heard they were severely injured in the crash. I don't know if there was a law suit or not. The homeowner replaced it with a flimsy pole and standard box. I think it best to put up a flimsy mailbox. The plastic ones look like a good idea. Putting up a heck for stout mailbox.. not a good idea. Not in today's world.

 

[Fossil Farm]

Our neighbor and us have used the large steelmailbox (see below) for several years. They last and can be welded if needed. Much more expensive now ($175) than when we bought them (about $80). They have been hit and beat up several times and still keep on going.

There are several "brick" mailboxes around, and the county engineer is sending letters to the owners and/or replacing them because of the liability so close to the road. Most electric and telephone poles are much further back and one has to drive through the road ditch to hit them. That is not "normal" driving as they say. A 4 x 4 post is the maximum size that is officially allowed around here, but of course some are larger or old post hole augers are used. Not sure how those fit into liability. I would rather not use one and get sued. Even if I won, the cost of defending oneself would be expensive.


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[TractorGuy]

My mail is only delivered correctly when my regular carrier is working, when on vacation or off, my mail is either lost, delivered to the wrong address or I get every one's mail to deliver. I've replaced my box 4 times in 20 years. I could cure this by getting a P.O. Box as I'm retired and go out every morning to get my news paper and go right past the P.O. but I'll be darned if I'll pay the P.O. to not deliver my mail.

I am having this haapen. Every time I get a substitute carrier my box gets bent, mail goes missing, etc.

Had some kids bashing my mom's box some years back. I got a 2" black iron pipe and drove it 3 feet deep and mounted the box on it. Next time they drove over it you could tell where the vehicle left the ground and where it landed. It was running on at least one rim judging by the tracks. I filed police reports every time but they never caught the perps.

Lowes use to sell a large cast iron mail box according to one of their associates. He told me they were sued over some kid breaking his arm trying to bash one. They quit carrying it I was told.

 

[Al 2]

My mail box is mounted to a piece of large welded anchor chain or whatever it was used for but instead of digging it deep into the ground it's welded to large piece of heavy plate steel ( or you could mount it to a concrete patio slab) and the plate is just buried a few inches below grade. If a vehicle was to hit it, it would just tip over. As far as I know, there are no regulations for mail box posts in this area.
Al

 

[TemporaryKubotaOwnerMark]

All this talk about liability if a car hits it, is ...

Is fact.

Like it or not.

....out by the road they had a huge solid Brick mailbox built to match the house. .... I figured it would be a matter of time before some drunk would run his car into it. .... I heard they were severely injured in the crash. I don't know if there was a law suit or not.

I suspect your answer is right here:

The homeowner replaced it with a flimsy pole and standard box.

The only way I would build a super strong mailbox is if it were back far enough from the road that it would be almost impossible for it to be a hazard. That would also require making sure that the postal carrier could drive up to it. That's a tough set of requirements to meet.

 

[Passattdi]

Mine is post master approved, with a 2x2 concrete barrier just high enough to take out any normal car's undercarriage and oil pans. Penn dot took it out twice. Last was a drunk. Next one won't get away.

 

[buckeyefarmer]

Lady took out a pole in front of my house sunday morning. She hit it hard enough to be a breakaway. Glad she missed my mailbox.
Lots of poles here within a ft of the edge of the road.

 

[ericm979]

Our box is on a beam with the boxes of the other people on our private road, about 30' from the county road. The post office tried to make us all move the boxes to the county road but it's on a blind turn in a forest so it's too dangerous to cross the road each day to get the mail. The mail delivery person, male or female, has never hit the boxes but they've been run into by construction vehicles.

The big problem here is meth addicts who steal mail. It's endemic all through the local mountains. So we all have to have expensive locking mailboxes and even then they just use a bigger crowbar. Between the mail thieves and construction guys I have to replace or rebuild the box every few years.

 

[Wagtail]

I always enjoy reading TBN threads when it comes to US mailboxes. Especially when it comes to your standardisation of the boxes themselves and the conformity of the regulations that must be adhered to.

The following are pictures of actual (and very typical) Australian rural mailboxes. Those that are an old oil drum (even the plastic ones) have a rock in them so that the Postie can put it on top of your letters so they wont blow away. And, yes, that last one is an old microwave oven... very popular (as long as the door still works :laughing.



Feel free to GIS Australian Mailboxes for more examples.