Vandal Proof Mailbox (is there such a thing?)

desertrat

desertrat

0_0
cwo_ghwebb said:
I'm on a gentle curve and the guy hit the mailbox after crossing the other lane. Cops were there in an instant and took off after him. I didn't see any damage to the mailbox itself, it just snapped the 4 x 4 like a twig. It's just aggravating every time this happens. A couple of scratches on his car and I got about an hour's work fixing this thing again.

:smack:
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I know what you mean. Do the break off point thing like I said. If you don't want to mess with drilling just use a couple of strips of wood mounted to the outside. Or if the hits always come from the same direction maybe you could incorporate a hinge so it would fall back away.
 
GWguy

GWguy

*
desertrat said:
I know what you mean. Do the break off point thing like I said. If you don't want to mess with drilling just use a couple of strips of wood mounted to the outside. Or if the hits always come from the same direction maybe you could incorporate a hinge so it would fall back away.
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Car Spring....
 
B

BernieP

Resident PIA
Did a quick Google search and there are a number of manufacturers that sell "Vandal Proof Mailbox"(es)
Given they are for sale, my guess the stories (and I've heard them) about liabilities should someone hit the box and get injured are just that, stories.
Oh, I checked Snopes and ther is nothing there.
 
GWguy

GWguy

*
BernieP said:
Did a quick Google search and there are a number of manufacturers that sell "Vandal Proof Mailbox"(es)
Given they are for sale, my guess the stories (and I've heard them) about liabilities should someone hit the box and get injured are just that, stories.
Oh, I checked Snopes and ther is nothing there.
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I went to the USPS website, but couldn't find anything on the specs of a private mailbox. I was going to stop in and see if they had any info.. I know there are specs for distance from the curb, height, style, etc....
 
Midnightrider

Midnightrider

Well-Known Member
the first guy i knew to die got decapitated when he hit a mailbox while riding his motorcycle. Apparently the homeowner had put in a metal pipe and filled it with concrete.

he didn't have a family per say so nobody got sued, but if he did i would imagine the family would have gotten a lot.
 
cwo_ghwebb

cwo_ghwebb

No Use for Donk Twits
GWguy said:
I went to the USPS website, but couldn't find anything on the specs of a private mailbox. I was going to stop in and see if they had any info.. I know there are specs for distance from the curb, height, style, etc....
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We don't have curbs or sidewalks here. Kinda strange because it's right in town. I hope the original location was legal, never got a warning from the mail carrier. Wife wants me to fix it quick so she can get her Christmas catalogs that don't go to our Post Office Box. Good idea though to check with the Post Office on what's allowed.
 
Jeff

Jeff

Stop Staring!!!!!
cwo_ghwebb said:
Had my plastic mailbox mounted over a 4 x 4 which was anchored quite deep in the ground. Saturday evening about six pm a Mustang broke it off at ground level. A few paint scratches on the car only. Is there a way to make this thing vandal proof? I'm sure this won't be the last time this happens based on my location.

:banghead:
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Umm. It sounds like your mailbox was hit by the car by accident. Not necessarlily vandalized. If you think your going to fix it to where it's accident proof, good luck, I think your just gonna sink alot of money into something over and over again. Nothing you put out there is going to do well surviving the impact of a car.

If it is vandalism that is the concern the ideas the others have kicked out are great. Something else I have seen was on Lower Marlboro Road in Calvert County when I was a kid. Horse Farm. Guy took I dunno 40-50 horse shoes and had them welded together. His mailbox fell victim to baseball players pretty often. He had covered his entire mailbox with these things and then welded those to a steel mounting plate then welded that to a 6" diameter post. I don't know how far in the ground it was. But that thing stayed there for years and probably is still there. Even if they hit it hard enough to dent it I am sure it could be bent/hammered back into shape.
 
Dougstermd

Dougstermd

ORGASM DONOR
cwo_ghwebb said:
We don't have curbs or sidewalks here. Kinda strange because it's right in town. I hope the original location was legal, never got a warning from the mail carrier. Wife wants me to fix it quick so she can get her Christmas catalogs that don't go to our Post Office Box. Good idea though to check with the Post Office on what's allowed.
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I must be gettin old!!! I do not wana see anyone get hurt if they run over my mailbox. It still would be fun to mess with kids taking batting practice. Still do not wana see them get hurt.


BTW the snow plows do not actually hit the mailbox its the large compressed snow ice sheet comming off the plow.
 
cwo_ghwebb

cwo_ghwebb

No Use for Donk Twits
Dougstermd said:
I must be gettin old!!! I do not wana see anyone get hurt if they run over my mailbox. It still would be fun to mess with kids taking batting practice. Still do not wana see them get hurt.


BTW the snow plows do not actually hit the mailbox its the large compressed snow ice sheet comming off the plow.
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It was an accident, drunk driver. Got it fixed and wife now gets her catalogs. Gotta watch out for the plows though I think we'll be okay. The plows will probably want to avoid the light pole that's about five feet before my mailbox.

:lmao:
 
huntr1

huntr1

.
A good way to mount the mailbox that I have seen before is to sink a large pipe in the ground a number of feet back from the road. Take a slightly smaller pipe and insert it into the first pipe. Weld a long pipe at a 90 deg. angle to that pipe. Mount mailbox to this last pipe. When car hits mailbox, pipe will spin. You could use a lightweight chain to anchor the mailbox in it's "ready to receive mail" position so the wind won't move it, but light enough to be easily broken when hit by a car/snowplow.
 
kwillia

kwillia

n/a
yankee44 said:
when I was a kid our mailbox kept getting hit by the snow plow. My dad took a smaller mailbox and put inside a larger mailbox filled it with concrete, monted to a compression spring from a hay bailer. When the snow plow hit it, it would just bounce right back.
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Now I know what to get Jazzy for Christmas...:yahoo:
 
desertrat

desertrat

0_0
huntr1 said:
A good way to mount the mailbox that I have seen before is to sink a large pipe in the ground a number of feet back from the road. Take a slightly smaller pipe and insert it into the first pipe. Weld a long pipe at a 90 deg. angle to that pipe. Mount mailbox to this last pipe. When car hits mailbox, pipe will spin. You could use a lightweight chain to anchor the mailbox in it's "ready to receive mail" position so the wind won't move it, but light enough to be easily broken when hit by a car/snowplow.
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Neat idea. How about a motorized mount on a timer? Swings out to receive mail in the morning and in the afternoon before you get home swings in to pickup mail postition. Then before dark swings to can't hit me neener, neener postion. When not being used the gears could disengage to avoid accidental damage.
 
huntr1

huntr1

.
desertrat said:
Neat idea. How about a motorized mount on a timer? Swings out to receive mail in the morning and in the afternoon before you get home swings in to pickup mail postition. Then before dark swings to can't hit me neener, neener postion. When not being used the gears could disengage to avoid accidental damage.
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A little grease on the smaller pipe is cheaper than electricity to run the electric motor of which you speak, and I am cheap. What happens when the mailman is early or late?
 
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