Mail Box Destruction

A

alltoys

New member
I have or had in this case a real nice mail box until I noticed it flattened by some vandals. Second time this year. So being a welder I had some plate steel laying around decided to build a heavy duty mail box. I made a square box with lid welded to a piece of 1/4'' wall 3" square tubing all welded to a thin wall pipe to press in the ground.

If the little turd decides to take a mighty swing he will have the surprise of his life. If it gets hit by a car at least the pipe will crumple not causing major damage but it should slow the vehicle down.
 
Sounds like a good plan. :thumb:

Some people argue that mailboxes shouldn't be so tough as to cause damage when a car hits them "accidentally". I'm not one of those people.

If I had a mailbox it would be made of concrete and steel! ;)
 
Last edited:
Many years ago, that was pretty much my solution at the farm to those that liked to play "rural baseball". The only difference was that I used two mailboxes, one inside the other, and filled the space in between with 2 sacks of concrete. It worked great for a long, long time. Every now and then you would notice a slight "ding" on the box and realize that some kid got a real shock when they swung at it.

Then, unfortunately, the farm road was redesignated as a State road and the State requires that all mailboxes on State roads be the "break-away" type to prevent the type of accidents that have been mentioned. So far we've lost it three times and there's not much you can do about it unless you want to get into an argument that you can't win with TxDOT.
 
Would love to see a pic of it alltoys if it's not to much trouble.

Your solution sounds great Frank. I've never heard of anyone being hurt by a mailbox in a crash ....I must've missed it. Strange law just the same. Sounds like someone behind that law has part ownership in a company that makes break away mailboxes. :eek:
 
Doc said:
I've never heard of anyone being hurt by a mailbox in a crash ....I must've missed it. Strange law just the same. Sounds like someone behind that law has part ownership in a company that makes break away mailboxes. :eek:
Click to expand...

I have to agree with you.
Here in New England, granite posts are common for mailboxes, on both town & state roads. For people who drive on the roads, no problem. The people who drive off the road, get dents. I've never heard of any injuries. When they decide to mandate break away mailboxes, they can also figure out how to make breakaway trees, telephone poles, buildings, etc...
It just may come to this.
 
The problem isn't the lack of "break away" mailboxes, but rather drivers taking a "break away" from watching what the heck they're doing! My mailbox used to be my Grandpa's, and it's at least 60yrs old. It's a large oversize that has 4 times the area of std mail boxes. A few years ago it got smashed by some kids and I got it beat back to shape & repainted. Hope it never gets hit again, but if it does, it'll get repaired. Grandpa's mailbox will live as long as I do, regardless of what it takes. Yes, we were all kids once, but for me, fun never included destroying someone's property. :pat:
 
Laws here are pretty flexible so long as the box doesn't enter a vehicle when hit all is okay. I made mine to fit on thin tubing almost like pop can material. Still strong enough to take a direct hit with a bat but can crumple when hit by a 3000# car. Tube will bend at ground level dropping the mail box to the ground but I doubt a car will dent the box.

I will take some pics once it quits snowing.
 
I was flipping through the channels on TV last night. one of those crime shows was on. some guy filled his box with concrete to teach the punks a lesson, They hit the box with a bat, which broke and caused a fatal crash. They charged him with 2nd degree murder.
 
In the same respect it is also a show not real life, totally hypothetical. Do you read the disclaimer at the end of these shows?
 
Several years ago we had our mailbox get smashed by some of these "cute kids" so I built a replacement by splitting a piece of 6" pipe lengthwise to form the top and welding the rest up from 1/4" plate. The result is a mailbox which looks just like a cheap sheet metal one but won't feel like it to a kid with a ball bat! It's mounted on a wooden 4x4 post so it won't stop a car but the 100 year old maples that grow along this road sure will. Why aren't the trees a hazard to cars if a mailbox is?
 
Well guys - actually, the USPS has a say in this! No matter what state you live in, if the USPS doesn't like your mailbox, then they can refuse to deliver to it! It is also a Federal law that rural mailboxes conform to standards, especially along Federally funded highways, roads and secondaries. Most states don't enforce it very much, but they will if there is a complaint or if you tick them off......
 
Good point Goat.

Two days ago I had a notice in my mailbox saying my mailbox was in need of repair or they would stop delivery on 1/25 if I had not repaired it. :hide: Yep, one of the screws had come off on one side of the door / mailbox flap, so it was awkward to open and close. No biggie. I figured I'd fix it this weekend, and hope the weather warmed up a bit.

Get home last night and the mailbox door in on the ground. :mad: So, I headed to the hardware store and got the nuts and bolts necessary to fix it. Was able to fix it in less than 10 minutes. The trip to the store was the hardest part of the fix. I figured if I left the door off that they would not have left the mail at all. Not sure, but just preferred to get er done.

Now it is a little harder to open and close. I wonder if they'll complain about that. :yum:
 
We live at the end of a fairlly long shared driveway , the neighbor ( farmer ) lives down closer to the road . so theres 2 mailboxes . People was all the time knockin them down turning in & out of the drive & one side of the drive is a pipeline easement .

Last time the pipeline Guys came out to do some pipeline repairs , They widened the approach put in a longer culvert & set the mailboxes back off the road about 10 foot or so with a pull off for the mailman . Havent had any problems since & the mailman feels a little safer being able to pull out of traffic while delivering the mail . Might not work for everyone but sure made it better for all involved here . Bob
 
Goat, Yeah, I know about the law but we live on a rural, secondary road and have had the same mail carrier for 20 years and around here I see all kinds of homemade mailboxes and the mail gets delivered to all of 'em. As long as it stays that way, I guess my mailbox will stay right where it is.
 
Yeah, but just be warned - your actual mailman might not have a say in the matter. HIS boss DOES. Even the state Highway Department does. If you live on a secondary, then the DOT can inforce the law FOR the USPS. I worked for a state DOT - and was tasked with the duty of photograpghing every mailbox in a 20 square mile area (others in the office had similar duties). It was a Federal mandate for ALL states. These photos were filed, and owners (in that state) of "non-compliant" boxes were given 30 days to BECOME compliant. Imagine the reaction when one homeowner - who had just completed an HUGE monolith of stone, concrete and steel - got the notice that his $20,000 scultprure containing a mailbox was "not-compliant" and would need to be removed. It went to court - and he lost.

Point is - they (USPS, DOT, and other agencies) already KNOW if your box is "compliant" - all they need is an excuse to make sure you are.....
 
Goat, Thanks for the warning. When Big Brother decides to enforce this and force me to be "compliant", then I guess I will. By the way, this is certainly one more way in which I'm really impressed with the way the government is spending MY money!!!
 
Goat said:
Yeah, but just be warned - your actual mailman might not have a say in the matter. HIS boss DOES. Even the state Highway Department does. If you live on a secondary, then the DOT can inforce the law FOR the USPS. I worked for a state DOT - and was tasked with the duty of photograpghing every mailbox in a 20 square mile area (others in the office had similar duties). It was a Federal mandate for ALL states. These photos were filed, and owners (in that state) of "non-compliant" boxes were given 30 days to BECOME compliant. Imagine the reaction when one homeowner - who had just completed an HUGE monolith of stone, concrete and steel - got the notice that his $20,000 scultprure containing a mailbox was "not-compliant" and would need to be removed. It went to court - and he lost.

Point is - they (USPS, DOT, and other agencies) already KNOW if your box is "compliant" - all they need is an excuse to make sure you are.....
Click to expand...

Glad our tax dollars are being so well spent.:rolleyes:
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Top