Mailbox Baseball

coachgrd · Apr 1, 2004

Well, got nailed...again. Some brain surgeons are having a ball at the expense of my mailbox. Back in July (of '03) these jokers took out my mailbox and every piece of landscaping we had out near the road (our house sits about 200' off the road.) I added a split rail fence to discourage them from taking out the shrubery again...at least with thier truck anyway. So last night they left the shrubery along and took out the fence.

Any of you guys ever have success catching idiots like this? What am I looking at ($$$) to install a street light out there?

Thanks in advance,
coachgrd

RHughes · Apr 1, 2004

I had this problem a few years ago. Never was able to actually *catch* the folks doing it so I simply chose to build a somewhat more sturdy mailbox. Haven't had any occurrances in about 5 years.

BB_TX · Apr 1, 2004

I live on an acre lot in a subdivision outside of town. All the houses have brick mailboxes at the street set in concrete pier hole in the ground. Several years ago, I got up one morning to go out to get the paper. My mailbox had been snapped off about 1' above ground. The top portion had been thrown basically intact several feet away. Now this mailbox is double bricked and very heavy. The tire tracks leading up to it and the fact it snapped off so low, indicates it was a car that hit it. Neither my wife or I heard anything and, of course, no one ever came by to say they did it. I managed to use an engine hoist to lift the bottom part out of the ground. Opened up the hole a little with a chute on one each side. Set the bottom part back in the hole and mixed and poured concrete down each chute. Then I put new mortar on the lower part, lifted the top portion, and set back down no the lower section. Now you can hardly tell it ever happened. My only consolation is knowing someone did some major damage to the front of their car.

shvl73 · Apr 1, 2004

I had a friend who's father found a way to discourage mailbox baseball. He put his mailbox on a post made from a telephone pole, then he put a second post next to the first but higher, flush with the top of the box. it was not a problem for the mail carrier, but the hit & run jerks would have to actually stop if they wanted to wreck his box. They never did. It also worked for protection from snowplows.

DaveNay · Apr 1, 2004

My power company will install a security light that is on their side of the meter if you ask. They will then add a fixed charge to your bill every month. I am sure that it is a pretty good profit center for them, and I can guarantee that the light is not using $5/mo worth of electricity that they are charging me.

Dave

MikePA · Apr 1, 2004

One of the more interesting solutions I've seen is that instead of putting a mailbox on a post and trying to 'armor plate' that was to;

1. Plant an 'L' shaped bracket in the ground, long leg of the 'L' in the ground.
2. Suspend a sturdy mailbox from the short end of the 'L' on chains, one at the front of the mailbox and one at the back.

Typically, the attachment points for these chains was a 'cage'. Imagine a big horse shoe that comes down over the mailbox, one at the front and one at the back, with the chains attaching to the top of the horse shoe.

So, when the miscreants swing at the mailbox they;

1. Can't hit the box because of the 'cage'.
2. When they do hit it, it simply swings away from them.

Bird · Apr 1, 2004

Dave, our electric co-op would do the same thing, and lots of folks had those lights provided by the electric company, but ours charged $7.50 a month instead of $5.

beenthere · Apr 1, 2004

I doubt a street light would do much other than light their way. I think a "motion detected light" that would flash on/off would be a bigger deterrent. Petty disgusting what some "kids" think is fun.

How about a nail strip buried along the shrub row and fence, so you don't get into it. A 2x4 with 20d nails possibly would work.

DIYGuy · Apr 1, 2004

In our litigious society, be careful of armor protecting your mailbox.

Last year there was astory in the Boston Globe of some guy suing a homeowner because his kid got hit in the head with a piece of baseball bat that shattered on a mailbox made out of 1/2 plate.

His argument was that the kid had an expectation that the mailbox would give way when being struck by a baseball bat from a moving vehicle.

Couldn't believe it when I read it, but I need a solution myself this spring. I'm think of making it 24x36x48 out of granite pavers and cement. No chance that there will be an expectation that it would give way.

I couldn't find out how far it got in the courts.

Knight9 · Apr 1, 2004

If it wasn't the punks hitting the box, it was the snow plow. /forums/images/graemlins/crazy.gif Then this last year mail started getting stolen. We've moved our mail delivery to a locked community style box down the road at a subdivision. Pretty sad when you can't just get your mail at the end of your driveway. /forums/images/graemlins/mad.gif

Kevin