How to catch a vandal??

[jymbee]

There's been an ongoing issue here with someone driving around and smashing mailboxes. Just put the 2nd new one in the past two weeks and that was smashed last night. The box is quite a distance away and not visible from the house. I'd like to install some kind of security camera in an attempt to identify the SOB. I do have a game camera but I don't think that would work given it's motion activated and the vehicle would probably be past the box by the time it came on. (?)

Any ideas as to what kind of system might be more effective? No power anywhere near the mailbox either.

 

[buckeyefarmer]

Install a heavy steel box that doesnt smash easily

 

[John Fitzgerald]

You "could" make a new mailbox from 3/8 steel plate, weld it to a 6 inch steel pipe, and set in 3 feet of concrete?? Seriously, not much you can do that would be cost effective. I had a brick mailbox enclosure filled with solid concrete, must have weighed 1,000 pounds, and it was knocked over twice in the 15 years I lived there.

 

[fried1765]

There's been an ongoing issue here with someone driving around and smashing mailboxes. Just put the 2nd new one in the past two weeks and that was smashed last night. The box is quite a distance away and not visible from the house. I'd like to install some kind of security camera in an attempt to identify the SOB. I do have a game camera but I don't think that would work given it's motion activated and the vehicle would probably be past the box by the time it came on. (?)

Any ideas as to what kind of system might be more effective? No power anywhere near the mailbox either.

I have a friend who had the same problem.
He bought two new mail boxes.
One was one of those gigantic package capable rural mail boxes.
The other was a standard size mail box.
He put the smaller box inside the larger one, and filled the space between with concrete.
Lag screwed the thing to an 8x8, planted solidly in the ground.
No more baseball bat mailbox damage.

 

[TheMan419]

I have a friend who had the same problem.
He bought two new mail boxes.
One was one of those gigantic package capable rural mail boxes.
The other was a standard size mail box.
He put the smaller box inside the larger one, and filled the space between with concrete.
Lag screwed the thing to an 8x8, planted solidly in the ground.
No more baseball bat mailbox damage.

That is great right up until a car hits it on accident and someone dies.

 

[LouNY]

That is great right up until a car hits it on accident and someone dies.

It still shouldn't make any difference, that 8x8 is no different then a tree. But I do realize that conniving shysters will make you out to be the bad guy even though your not.
A good solid mail box mounted on a swinging arm should work as the pole for the swinging arm can be back out of the roadway a considerable distance and it should also help with snowplow damage.

 

[fried1765]

That is great right up until a car hits it on accident and someone dies.

Is there some legal limitation for maximum size/strength of a mail box post?
.....a tree size?
.... bridge abutment?

 

[rustyshakelford]

Install a heavy steel box that doesnt smash easily

Home Depot sells a pretty good HD one that you wouldn稚 catch heat for having.

Make a new mailbox from 3/8 steel plate, weld it to a 6 inch steel pipe, and set in 3 feet of concrete? Seriously, not much you can do that would be cost effective. I had a brick mailbox enclosure filled with solid concrete, must have weighed 1,000 pounds, and it was knocked over twice in the 15 years I lived there.

As much as I agree with you here I think it痴 terrible advice to post on an open forum. If you build a tough mailbox and some kid goes to smash it with a bat but instead gets hurt badly could be held liable...disgusting isn稚 it. Kinda like the Home burglar that cut himself on a knife while robbing a house and successfully sued and won.

If I was having these issues I would quietly build a beautiful decorative mailbox that would be pleasant to look at while ensuring it was built with quality in mind. I would strongly suggest making a big gauwdy monstronsity. With living in NY I don稚 know your liabilities if the county comes down the road and clips your mailbox which results in damage to their equipment. In this enviroment there is no telling who痴 going to sue you and win. It痴 horrible

That is great right up until a car hits it on accident and someone dies.

I agree with you. You壇 be the one getting in trouble vs the vandal. I think the law is something about booby trapping with the intent to cause bodily harm or something.

Brett

 

[Industrial Toys]

My Dad lives on a curve in a subdivision and practically every year in slippery conditions someone skids and takes out the maple tree that the City Planted. Everyone else has big majestic trees and he still has a sapling! He drove a nice heavy chunk of steel post in beside the tree. It still got run down, and eventually the city removed the post when planting yet another tree.

 

[TheMan419]

Is there some legal limitation for maximum size/strength of a mail box post?
.....a tree size?
.... bridge abutment?

The difference is the tree is a natural object and we all know to try to avoid them. Generally mail box posts are built to fail if hit by a car so no one gets injured. No need to try to avoid them if you are in an accident.

Bridge abutments are usually designed w crash survivability in mind as well.