Maibox baseball problem and worse

buckeyefarmer · Jul 28, 2011

mine hasn't been smashed since I got the 1/4" steel one from HD. Someone tried to smash it once, left a yellow mark where the bat bounced off. I bet it stung their hands. snow plows usually don't actually hit mailboxes, the force of the snow coming off the plow is enough to rip a mailbox off.

foreman Etexas · Jul 28, 2011

GregbkH said:
Have one built out of plate steel. Put a trail camera on it and let the fun begin!

I agree with Greg take a regular mailbx and get a piece of pipe about the same size as the inside(were is fits inside and you cant see it)then weld another piece of pipe that goes in the ground and behind whatever you usually mount it on(can cover the pipe with 1xs so they cant see it).And if you get a game cam.make sure its one without the flash.:thumbsup:

sailorman · Jul 29, 2011

Well it got hit again last night . I have procrastinated on removable box, but I will do that hopefully this weekend . I have a square wooden post setup that fits into a metal receiver driven into the ground . Gonna drill through the receiver holes and just use through bolts with no nuts . In evening remove bolts and toss post and box in truck . Put it back up the next morning.

Game cam ain 't gonna happen 'cause I ain 't gonna spend that money just to have it stolen or bashed . Box sits on country road far removed from my place or any others ( live in back woods ) so I and neighbors can 't see or hear perps when it happens .

schmism · Jul 29, 2011

another popular idea was to put a regular size mail box inside a large size mailbox and fill the space between with concrete.

then simply attach the large size to the post as you normally would. likely going to knock it off the post before they do any real damage to it.

Pilot · Jul 29, 2011

I had a removable mail box & it got stolen. Sheriff brought it back after I had already replaced it. They had found about a dozen mail boxes dumped in one place.

However, my mailbox frequently got damaged and I suspected my neighbor across the road was just careless, hitting it with his truck or whatever. Kind of a low life. I could tell someone from his place had backed into my mailbox at least once.

So I got some diamond plate, had it bent to cover the mailbox with a 1" or so gap between. Set it on a 6" diameter steel post, mounted in a 2', gravel filled hole, located about 6 ft. off the road, adding gravel to widen the shoulder. Post office folks like it because they are off the road when the deliver the mail. My mailbox hasn't been scratched since then.

I have heard about some folks who mount their steel post on a coil spring so it will give if hit by a car to reduce the chance of injuries.

scrappy isb67 · Jul 29, 2011

bcp said:
Ideas:

Swinging Mailbox | Flickr - Photo Sharing!

Swinging MailBox

Mailbox Support | SwingSAFE Mailbox Supports | (320) 267-1642

Or, a very long(10-12ft) swinging horizontal arm, so the mailbox is far into your property when not expecting mail.

Bruce

my parents mounted theirs on a 2.5" dia. pipe bent in to an upside down L and driven in the ground. the L was long enough the the mailbox would pivot away with any kind of impact. it got hit a couple of times and the box itself survived without much in the way of damage.

woodchuckie · Jul 29, 2011

I got a larger box and put a smaller one inside and then poured concrete between them. Then just mounted it normally to a post. I have also moved the post about 2 car widths off the road which I think did the most good. A shotgun blast did very little damage.

wedge40 · Jul 29, 2011

The one thing I haven't seen mentioned is to reinforce the box and place it inside a container. Around here you see lot of old milk containers. It just needs some ballast in the bottom to hold the box. Maybe put a couple concrete blocks in the ground to give it level support. If someone hits it, it just topples over and the next day you set it back up.

I have to agree with just doing everything online. I get very few "real" pieces of mail anymore. All of my bills are paid online. As the post office talks about closing thousand of post offices, I think a better choice would be to make mail delivery at most three days a week, maybe even only two.

Wedge

arpt209 · Jul 31, 2011

I remember a friend telling me that his mail box had been hit a few times. He simply moved it back from the edge of the road a little. I was a bit concerned because it was close to the edge of the approach for his driveway. I was afraid if the carrier came in a little too fast with the mail they could go right off the edge of the approach & into the road ditch & roll their vehicle. He didn't seem too concerned for the carrier. I guess he thought they'd drive slow when approaching his box for delivery.