Snow plows and mom's mailbox

[purplepickup]

My mom lives on a state highway and the snow plows go about 55mph when they're plowing past her house.  Every year they bust up her mailbox really good.  It almost always has to be replaced at least once or twice a year.  Last year she got one of those big plastic boxes that mounts to a 4x4 and it broke off the 4x4 right at the ground.  This year I braced it real good and so far it has broken the top part off 4 times.

Does anyone have any ideas for a snowplow proof mailbox?   I thought with all the creative minds on here somebody might come up with something.  Do you think a box mounted on a car spring would work?  Any ideas?

I found a swing away bracket called MailSwing but it's pretty expensive.  It works like this:  (I can just guess what would happen to the mail if the door wasn't shut tight.)

[Crosley.In.AZ]

never had snow plow problems.

In our first new house in 1977 we had someone drive down the sidewalk and blast the mail box and post with their car.  The kids(?) blasted several mail boxes in a row down the street


So I replaced the box & post.  I used  a round 3 inch 1/4 inch wall pipe in a good bit of concrete.  I welded on some metal scroll pieces so it looked the part of a cheapy mail box post.

The trail of fluids along with various bits &  pieces of car scattered about the street indicated the car suffered plenty of damage when they drove over the box & post again a few months later.  They wacked two of my neighbors mail boxes then mine....  

[enjenjo]

Become the reed grasshopper. I have the same problem. The guy across the street put up one of those plastic boxes that fit over a 4x4, he has replaced it twice this year so far. Too much surface area facing the plow, so it breaks off.  I have a metal box on a bare 4x4, it gets bent, but not so bad I can't straighten it with my hands, and lasts several years. Of course it has been hit by cars several times, and had to be replaced.

If you ever noticed, it's always the first one in line, or the one by itself,  that gets knocked down. So the thing to do, is to put something in front of the box to take the brunt of the force. A peice of plywood, about 18" by 4' works good. Fasten one end to the ground, and a cable to the other end, and stake it in the direction the plow normally comes from. When the snow hits it, it will tighten the cable, holding the plywood in place, and protect the mail box. And none of it is too heavy, or so strong, that if hit by a car it will do any actionable damage. Too strong, and you are opening yourself up for a liability suit.

[48ford]

George,
I live on a state road too.
What I think is going on(it was what did me in,over,an over, an over, is not the plow hitting the box but the crap he tosses up as he goes by.
I drive 3 heavy steel fence poles in the ground next to the box and tie rap a 3/4" plywood in front of the poles.the plywood stops the slush from hitting the box.
I havent lost a box in 3 years now.
Hope this helps you
Russ&Irene

[purplepickup]

I used  a round 3 inch 1/4 inch wall pipe in a good bit of concrete.

Twisted minds must think alike.     There were some kids running down mailboxes here too and I did a similar thing.  I filled an old tire full of concrete and stuck a steel post with a flange welded to the bottom into the concrete and mounted the box on the post.  Then I buried the tire just flush with the ground.  It wasn't too many nights before I heard a rukus out in front.  They had driven over the post but when they did it tipped the tire up on it's edge and it lifted their car off the ground and wedged under it.  I called the cops and they took care of it.  All the mailboxes down the road had been knocked over that night so they really got busted good.  The cop told them he just happened to be driving by when he saw them so they wouldn't get even with me for calling them.  Revenge is sweet.    I've still got the same concrete filled tire but no one has run over it since.

[Bruce Dorsi]

We don't get enough snow around here for it to be a big problem.  

On trips through New England and Canada, I've seen mailboxes mounted to prevent the plow damage you describe.  

The vertical post is installed 4'-8' further from the road than normal.  ....This is usually comprised of 2 uprights spaced apart the thickness of the horizontal beam.  

The horizontal beam has the box mounted on the (road) end, and the beam pivots at the top of the vertical post(s).
...The horizontal beam extends  
a few feet on the house side of the post, so the beam pivots like an off-center see-saw.  

The inner end of the beam can be counter-weighted or spring-loaded to raise the mailbox a few feet higher than normal.  ....Usually a rope is attached near the mailbox to pull the beam down to a horizontal position to insert or remove mail.  

I don't know how the U.S. Postal Service feels about these devices, but they seem to be common in areas that get a lot of snow.  .....By removing the counterweight or spring, the beam can remain in the horizontal position for most of the year.

If you don't like the style described above, something else comes to mind.

Some vehicle clearance markers are designed to swing away and raise up as the horizontal arm rotates.

Visualize a pipe cut into 2 pcs on a steep diagonal.  ....Insert a pin inside the piece of pipe, which is sized to allow the 2 pcs of pipe to rotate independently, yet remain in alignment.
....Butt the diagonally-cut ends together, so there is no gap between the ends.  ....As one of the pipes is rotated, the overall length of the pipes increase.

So, imagine a vertical pipe as the mailbox post, with the diagonally-cut end at the top.  ....A horizontal arm has the mailbox mounted, and is welded perpendicular to the 2nd piece of pipe so that the diagonal cut is at the lower end.
....The pivot pin can be welded or bolted to ONE piece of pipe, or it can remain a separate piece.

The vertical post is installed so the pipes are at their shortest length, and the mailbox is in its proper location.

As the mailbox is moved sideways due to high wind or snowplows, the upper pipe will rotate and "climb" the diagonal "ramp" on the post, allowing the mailbox to swing up and away from the applied force.
.....The diagonally-cut "ramps" will allow gravity to rotate the upper pipe, thus returning the mailbox to its proper position by itself.

Clear as mud, right?  

A picture is worth a thousand words, but I don't have any pics!

[32 Chevy]

My mom lives on a state highway and the snow plows go about 55mph when they're plowing past her house.  Every year they bust up her mailbox really good.  It almost always has to be replaced at least once or twice a year.  Last year she got one of those big plastic boxes that mounts to a 4x4 and it broke off the 4x4 right at the ground.  This year I braced it real good and so far it has broken the top part off 4 times.

Does anyone have any ideas for a snowplow proof mailbox?  I found a swing away bracket called MailSwing but it's pretty expensive.  It works like this:
I can just guess what would happen to the mail if the door wasn't shut tight.

I thought with all the creative minds on here somebody might come up with something.  Do you think a box mounted on a car spring would work?  Any ideas?

The best one I have seen is a mailbox hung from chains. Visualize a heavy duty post set fairly far back from the road, and then a horizontal post extends forward to the edge of the road.The mailbox is hung from chains that are welded or U bolted to the horizontal beam. Simple and effective, and the kids cant hit anything with their car. If they try to hit it with a stick while they drive past at high speed, the fact that you made the box from solid 3/8th inch steel will give them quite a thrill...

Cheers,

Dave R.

P.S. let us know who wins the mailbox design contest!

[Stakebed]

A lot of people I know put their box on a pipe that is back in the ditch further. the base is straight- then a 45* section - then horizontal to the box. The middle of the 45 pipe is cut and sleeved so the top can swingup and away if struck, then gravity will return it to the normal position.
  For being run over a friend of mine planted a railroad tie in the ground coming up to just behind the box at an angle. It really flattened the box and there was a lot of car left on the road, but it solved the problem with the local kids running over the mailbox every week or so!

[GPster]

Interesting group of ideas. I like the one about hanging the mail box on a chain. I'd try one step further. Hang the chain from a faccimily of a boom of a wrecker. Then put around it a bunch of signs like the police are using. Warningsabout how their picture is being taken if they are exceeding the speed limit, etc. and hook up a camera to take pictures of anyone placeing any stress on the box or it's mounting. Of course when you try to show the culprits that you're smarter than they then they'll try to show you how wrong you are. None of this would work here where I live. My property line stops at the back of the sidewalk. The city owns the sidewalk (but I'm responcible for re-placing it, and shoveling the snow off of it) and the lawnstrip (which I am responcible for mowing) to the curb. My mail is delivered to the front door because I'm not allowed any structures on the city property. On a sencible note, can your mother request front door delivery? Can yo put the mailbox on a removeable standso when snow is predicted she can carry the mailbox to the front door and take it back out after the plow has been through? All these stupid comments that I've made have tired me out. I need to take a nap. GPster

[purplepickup]

Bruce and Stakebed,  Your ideas were about the same and I'm going to mess with a little prototype made out of conduit tonight.  I think it will work.  I'll play with different lengths of the horizontal bar to get it to swivel right with the force of the blast of snow from a 55 mph snowplow.  We're supposed to get a lot of snow tonight so I'll probably be out in the driveway tomorrow aiming the snowblower at scale models of my mom's mailbox.        I guess my neighbors have seen me do weirder things

[Crosley.In.AZ]

I guess my neighbors have seen me do weirder things

most likely.

   

[purplepickup]

Well, the prototype I made of Bruce & Stakebed's design worked great.  Now I'll have to make a real one.  I guess I won't have to worry about it for a while tho.  I told my mom I was going to check with you guys and she came here to read some of the posts and decided she is moving to Arizona for the rest of the winter.  She organized a few of her friends and they're heading west in a couple weeks.  See Tony, I told you this would happen if you keep talking about the AZ winter weather.

[SKR8PN]

George...........
I just took a piece of 21/4 stainless exhaust pipe and sunk it in the ground. Then I had the exhaust shop take another piece of 2 1/4 stainless,make it about 3 foot tall with a 90 degreee bend extending out another 2 feet or so, and swedge the one end of it down so it fit snug in the first pipe. You now have a pipe in the ground,and another that fits in it snugly with a 90 degree bend at the top. To mount the box,I took 4 hook eyes and welded them shut,Mounted 2 in the pipe and the other 2 in the top of the box,spaced so that the box swings freely without hitting the post. I then used a section of 3/8 diamer rod with a hole drilled in each end. Slide it thru the 4 hook eyes and put a couple of hair pins in the holes,and you have a mailbox that will swing in the breeze,on a post that will swing around if it gets to much air,PLUS it is easy to change out the box when it does take a hit.
Cheap and easy.

[slocrow]

Jim; Yes but.......what will bring it back to center? Or did I miss something?

[SKR8PN]

Jim; Yes but.......what will bring it back to center? Or did I miss something?

This is a "manual" version  
I have to go out and turn it back,but at least it doesn't DESTROY the mailbox every time!!