We have rural mail delivery here and every winter we go threw at least 1 or 2 mailboxes. So this year I decided to build one that they couldn’t kill.

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technology is great when it works
and one big pain in the ass when it doesn't.
Detroit iron rules all the rest are just toys.

The only thing its missing is a 120mm cannon and an olive drab paint job

I love it

I'm sure it will handle a kid playing mailbox baseball.

But my money is still on the plows.

Edit - I just realized that it will be suspended from above so it can swing away from the plow blade.....that may protect it. Nice.

[This message has been edited by cccharlie (edited 09-10-2006).]

Wanna bet?

16-year-old part-timer at $7 an hour DOES NOT buy a consiencious driver.........never mind the 6 tons of truck he is in

Thats the way it goes around here anyway. I've seen one of them dig in a wing plow going fast enough the truck got picked up, spun 90 degrees, and planted.

Cheapest mailbox?--a wall-mart bag. Put the good one back up in the spring when iddiots in trucks cant hurt it.

I have a friend that lives in the mountains between western and eastern Washington, and used to wonder what the deal was with all the funky mailboxes hanging from huge chains, on long blanced posts with counterweights etc.. until he explained the snowplows. They design them to take the hit from a plow and swing out of the way, rather than trying to survive the blow in place.... which A) ain't going to happen, B) if it did happen you'd probably have a bunch of VERY pissed off neighbors when they find out their street isn't going to get plowed until spring...

I'd suggest some concrete.

i dated a girl in high school who's mail box kept getting bashed in. her dad took some square 4 in steel tubing, burried it in cement, then filled a metal mail box with cement, left a little slot to actually put the mail in. it did get hit again, but the damage was minimal.

my father in laws mail box got ran into once, he lives on a curve. he's a retired brick layer and built a huge "post". about 3 ft round by 4 ft high out of brick. has the actual box built into it. hasn't had any problems since.

quote Originally posted by cccharlie: I'm sure it will handle a kid playing mailbox baseball. But my money is still on the plows. Edit - I just realized that it will be suspended from above so it can swing away from the plow blade.....that may protect it. Nice.

It depends just how the plow hits it....

I've seen wing plows shear off reinforced concrete posts and small trees like a hot knife thru butter. If a wing plow hits that mailbox directly the chain likely won't save it. The box might survive but odds are a direct hit could cut/snap the chains and pitch it pretty far. You might want to think about anything within some number of yards that could get hit by it.

If the box is hit by snow coming off a blade then the chains and mass should help.

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Dr. Ian Malcolm: Yeah, but your scientists were so preoccupied with whether or not they could, they didn't stop to think if they should.
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All the old mailboxes where hung on thin dog chains. None of those thin chains broke, just the mail boxes.

I believe it is just the snow in front of the blade that hit the mailboxes. So I should be good to go. At least I hope so.

But if it does go flying there is nothing but trees on that side of the road for a quarter mile in each direction.

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technology is great when it works
and one big pain in the ass when it doesn't.
Detroit iron rules all the rest are just toys.

Your garage looks like something out of a modern horror movie.

Teh mailbox looks pretty hardcore though.

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Some say life is only a dream and we're an imagination of ourselves.....here's Tom with the weather.
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quote Originally posted by SLAMMED87GT: Your garage looks like something out of a modern horror movie. Teh mailbox looks pretty hardcore though.

Ya it keeps the wife out most of the time, she hates going in there to find a screwdriver.

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technology is great when it works
and one big pain in the ass when it doesn't.
Detroit iron rules all the rest are just toys.

If the mailbox is not approved by the U.S. Postal service they will not deliver your mail, unless the person that delivers it could care less.

[This message has been edited by fieroparts.com (edited 09-11-2006).]

I'm in the group with mailbox hits all year long. I figured it was time to upgrade the 1-1/4" steel post to something more durable.
I had a left over concrete linel reinforced with rebar steel. I think it was 6 ft long. I buried it it the ground with concrete, leaving the standard measurement above ground. Put my new mailbox on top and then I waited.
About 30 days later I heard a crash out front and rushed out to see my catch. I approached the scene with a BIG SMILE on my face. A guy backed his customized van into the post. HAd to be at least a thousand bucks in damage.
I know if the old post was in place he'd drive off without a word or damage.

The next challenger was the township plow "huge International truck". I was'nt home to enjoy the event but my neighbor heard the crash and said he saw the plow driver backing away from my new post with his pride somewhat hurt.
Sometimes I'll find tire tracks in the grass leading right up to the post but I still smile knowing the SOB had to back up and not just run it over and keep going.
The post still stands today with some rebar showing near the bottom.

quote Originally posted by fieroparts.com: If the mailbox is not approved by the U.S. Postal service they will not deliver your mail, unless the person that delivers it could care less.

i wanted to mention that, but you can make you mail box and then take it up to the postmaster and have it approved.
and they will just about aprove anything.

For the city folk who don't know what you 're talking about, here's a pic
http://www.ruralmailboxes.com/frontphotonew_small_bevel.jpg

imagine his mailbox humg by chains at the end of a pole with a counterweight at the other end. Can't wait to the see the finished post.

[This message has been edited by Gokart Mozart (edited 09-12-2006).]

Hey! I think that mailbox could double as a Barbeque on the weekends!

quote Originally posted by fieroparts.com: If the mailbox is not approved by the U.S. Postal service they will not deliver your mail, unless the person that delivers it could care less.

Being from Maine I would think you would be familiar with this problem of Mailbox Destruction.

But then OB is not exactly rural is it?

I did a staircase there a few years ago at a hotel, King Edward I think was the name. Not exactly what I would call a vacation spot for me. I like getting away from it all and OB is like being in NY only without the high-rise buildings.

I asked our Mail Carrier about the Mailbox and she said it was nothing out of the ordinary up here. Lots of people put their Mailboxes inside Pipe like this one.

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technology is great when it works
and one big pain in the ass when it doesn't.
Detroit iron rules all the rest are just toys.

Nice work.

Unfortunately if we do that over here and a myopic plow driver hurts their precious truck on the mailbox, the township has bylaws in place which make the mailbox owner responsible for the damage. Not sure if that extends to normal drivers or not, but the bloody snow plows & operators are nicely protected from their own incompetence.

Does anyone here even think that this could possibly do any damage to the snowplow?

This is made of 1/4” thick steel pipe. To withstand a hit and swing away.

Plow blades are made to withstand much more than this. Not to mention it is hung on chains so it will swing, not set solid. This was not made to damage the snowplow, it was made so I don’t have to replace the dam Mailbox after every snowstorm, sometimes 2 or 3 a week.

For those of you that think this is outrageous try this sight out from a Maine Company, check it out look around at the boxes they make.

http://www.mainelymetals.com/Merchant2/merchant.mvc?Screen=CTGY&Store_Code=M&Category_Code=HD

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technology is great when it works
and one big pain in the ass when it doesn't.
Detroit iron rules all the rest are just toys.

quote Originally posted by dguy: Unfortunately if we do that over here and a myopic plow driver hurts their precious truck on the mailbox, the township has bylaws in place which make the mailbox owner responsible for the damage. Not sure if that extends to normal drivers or not, but the bloody snow plows & operators are nicely protected from their own incompetence.

I had wondered the same thing. We all have break-a-way sign poles, guardrails, and other amenities which are designed to make the road safer should an accident happen. If an injury were to occur, I wonder.......
I also wonder what case one might have if they claim your mailbox caused undue damage to their vehicle. IE, that even though they were at fault, damages would be limited to about 30 bucks to replace the mailbox where as now their vehicle needs a thousand dollars worth of repairs.
Just a thought.

quote Originally posted by 84fiero123: Does anyone here even think that this could possibly do any damage to the snowplow?

Yours or other suspended designs? No. I was thinking more of those who use combinations of pipe, concrete and/or rebar to strengthen the post. Like I said, nice work. One of my (many!) back-burner projects is something similar to be honest.

I just plain don't get why I can be held liable for damages incurred by a snowplow operator who can't figure out where the end of the bloody blade is. If the mailbox is placed "to spec", there's no frigging reason to hit it other than driver incompetence. To me that's like a parent suing the electric company after your kid sticks a screwdriver in an outlet.

...or if you prefer, it's right up there with new neighbours who stir up a s*** storm after they move in beside an established farm and decide that animal noises are unacceptable.