freeman Posted June 21, 2011 Share Posted June 21, 2011 Got back from spending the weekend with family to find my mailbox beaten to death by what I can only assume was neighborhood kids playing mailbox baseball. Whoever got it got a really solid hit in, the door's torn half off and they managed to spin the cross arm 180 degrees on the post so the mailbox was pointing at the house. Unfortunately, certain poorly thought out past-times during my youth pretty much kill what would otherwise be a perfect opportunity for some seriously righteous indignation. Instead I'm left with a grudging respect for the kid's aim. Guess it's true what they say, you reap what you sew. Anyway, I figure this is the perfect opportunity to forge up a replacement mailbox. I've got a few ideas but figured I'd open it up to discussion before I commit to anything. So my question is this: if you wanted to build a mailbox that would stop a truck, how would you go about it? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nelson Posted June 21, 2011 Share Posted June 21, 2011 freeman, Sorry to hear Terminators destroyed your mail box. Guess there`s many ways to go around the problem.One, but perhaps not the most advisable, would be to get rid of them, all together...LOL. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Marksnagel Posted June 21, 2011 Share Posted June 21, 2011 First my fellow Tarheel, I won't rat you out. Go for it. As much as I like the idea of building a mailbox that would withstand a heavily armed assault from a medium sized third world country and a detachment of derilict cubscout castoffs, I would caution you to check with your local DOT or county or whoever maintains the roads. I work for the NC DOT and there are restrictions for the construction of mailbox posts. In NC they must be breakaway. A 4x4 wood post so long as it is not cemented in is prefered. There are a zillion posts that are out there that don't conform ie welded anchor chain links still attached to the tugboat buried there but nobody really bothers to enforce the rules on those. Scared I reckon. The ones that irk some people are the ones that are brick columns. If it was up to me I would I would have something immobile like the anchor off the titanic there. Plus if some drunk sot runs off the road, hits your iron monolith and gets hurt or worse, they can sue you for all you are worth. So the bottom line is..... can I have your anvil before some drunk gets it in a lawsuit? I can be there in about 3 hours if I take I540. Mark <º)))>< Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jmeineke Posted June 21, 2011 Share Posted June 21, 2011 How about 1/2" mild steel plate for the mailbox. Weld up 3 or 4 truck coil springs end to end you should have a nice baseball-bat resistant mailbox that'll bounce right back Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
freeman Posted June 21, 2011 Author Share Posted June 21, 2011 As much as I like the idea of building a mailbox that would withstand a heavily armed assault from a medium sized third world country and a detachment of derilict cubscout castoffs, I would caution you to check with your local DOT or county or whoever maintains the roads. You make a good point there, I'll take a look into the legalities before I commit to anything. I figure if the neighbors can have those brick pillars I ought to be OK with something pretty sturdy yeah? My father had a similar problem and after the 3rd time his mailbox got taken out he welded one out of 5/8 plate steel, then welded that to a big iron pipe he then filled with concrete before finally burying it in 3 feet of concrete. A week after planting this monstrosity he found a broken off rearview mirror and two halves of a baseball bat at the end of his driveway. About six months ago someone hit his tank trap mailbox with a car. They couldn't pry the mailbox out of the car on site so they had to haul the car (with mailbox still embedded) off and cut the mailbox out. The insurance company then returned the mailbox. He didn't mention anything about a lawsuit. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
thingmaker3 Posted June 21, 2011 Share Posted June 21, 2011 I've always admired the designs that swing up & away when whacked. Gravity resets them. Probably more fun for the delinquents, too. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Thomas Dean Posted June 21, 2011 Share Posted June 21, 2011 I've "heard" that a piece of 6" pipe cut to length and split in half then sides and back with a hinged door on front is the exact same size as the light weight (read wimpy) ones you get at the big box stores. Also "heard" that once hit they are pretty much left alone. "rumor" has it the guy welded 1/2" x 2" x 18" straped to to fit down both sides of the 4x4 post. The one time it was hit, the post was turned to kindling, mailbox intact....or so I've heard.... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FieryFurnace Posted June 21, 2011 Share Posted June 21, 2011 How about a larger pipe over a smaller one that is stuck in the ground. That way when the punk clunks it it rotates....... WHAT GOES AROUND COMES AROUND in this case! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
highlander Posted June 21, 2011 Share Posted June 21, 2011 I made one for a fella once. Just took a piece of 6 inch pipe, cut a slice in it and bent the sides straight with a piece of plate welded for the bottom and back. Took the intact door off his old smashed mailbox and put it on the new one. A couple weeks later he called me to tell me that he found a piece of smashed baseball bat next to the new box, and the paint was scuffed on it. That'll be the last time those kids make that mistake. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
territorialmillworks Posted June 21, 2011 Share Posted June 21, 2011 When I lived in Tennessee (35 years ago LOL), there was a guy in the next valley that had his mailbox repeatedly centerlined by a truck with a grill guard. He sunk a large pipe in cement and then placed a piece of PVC over the steel pipe. Sure enough, the mailbox got hit again, pushing the engine/tranny off the mounts and putting two juveniles in the hospital. The guy got charged with some law relating to creating a hazard/nuasance. Turns out that the mailbox was located on the right-of-way of the country road and not on his land. With the way tort laws are out of control in this country, might want to keep this cautionary tell in mind....still think the little reprobates got what they deserved. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Farmall Posted June 21, 2011 Share Posted June 21, 2011 buddy of mine got tired of losing his, so he used a piece of .375 wall, 8-inch steel pipe with a back and door welded on it as his mailbox on top of the usually wooden post. While they could knock it over, the mailbox never got hurt. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
John McPherson Posted June 21, 2011 Share Posted June 21, 2011 You can always make one out of heavy stock, and then attach it to the sacrificial 4x4 post with strapping and nails. Inertia alone will be enough to overcome any bat, straps will prevent sending the loose box thru a windshield of a drunk driver. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Willis Posted June 21, 2011 Share Posted June 21, 2011 Be careful. I know folks in Florida that have been sued for building idiot proof mailboxes when a teen broke his arm while playing mailbox ball and hit one with a bat while in a car doing 50mph at the time. The boys parents sued the box owner and won, this even after the box owner explained in court that his box had been wrecked three times over a one month span. I'm with you on this. Build an idiot proof box. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Drewed Posted June 21, 2011 Share Posted June 21, 2011 I made one that pivoted and was counter balanced with a large "hanging basket" ( a large metal bucket )of flowers. One day some kids tried to smash it and when they hit the mail box at high speed ( these kids were clipping them with a old truck )the whole thing pivoted and the "planter" swung around and smashed the heck out of the passenger door. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
David Einhorn Posted June 21, 2011 Share Posted June 21, 2011 Once a month on the second Friday of each month between 10pm and 10:30pm two guys in a car would come down the road going through the mailboxes in the neighborhood (for over 20 years). The Post Office said it was a police issue and the police said it was the Post Office's problem. This went on for years, finally I saw a lockable mailbox on sale at Ollie's and installed that. It is sufficiently heavy duty so as to be resistant to tampering, the walls of the box are much thicker than normal boxes, and it is stamped with the usual approval of the post office department. There is a plastic box for the local "Merchandiser" circular next to it that is in the way of a good swing, and both are mounted on a 6 by 6 of treated fir-lumber. Last week two guys came down the road in broad-daylight going through boxes. The one guy started yelling curses when he saw that my neighbor and myself both had the armored lockable mailboxes. I was too far from the road to get his license number. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Frank Turley Posted June 21, 2011 Share Posted June 21, 2011 Our mailbox was repeatedly beat on and run into. I knew that there were rules and regs about overly built mailboxes in the right of way, but I went ahead and welded a fabbed 9" steel pipe box to a thick walled 6" pipe post...installed in concrete. Not long after, a drunk(?) ran into the post in the middle of the night. I was asleep, but my neighbors said that they heard the crash and the guy's tires spinning repeatedly as he tried to back up. The neighborhood dogs were all barking like mad. Next morning the car was gone, and I saw that there were a few metal shards and lots of lost antifreeze on the ground. The mailbox and post remained intact. No repercussions. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Double Y Posted June 21, 2011 Share Posted June 21, 2011 Ours got clipped by the local first time beer drinkers several times and by the snow plow in the winter. We changed the location to put it off the road 10 feet with a pull off for the mail lady. Welded up some Schedule 80 4 inch pipe with 3/16 plate for the boxes to sit on and a splash guard from the snow plow. No issues with the plow. The kids tried it once and played themselves out. However, we found yellow paint on the boxes one day with a damaged mailbox. My neighbors had seen a school bus trying to use the turn out to turn around a 40 foot school bus and failed. The school district bought and installed 3 new mail boxes! I understand the damage to the school bus far outweighed the damage to the boxes. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
don't tread on me Posted June 21, 2011 Share Posted June 21, 2011 You could use a chunk of rail road track, the shouldn't brake or bend. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rthibeau Posted June 21, 2011 Share Posted June 21, 2011 Frank, you slept through all that ruckus ??? B) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pkrankow Posted June 21, 2011 Share Posted June 21, 2011 You need to stay with the wood post, or the dry joint brick column on a smooth concrete foundation, or a pivoting method that protects the vehicle and occupants in a real accident. Also the DOT does not think highly of having their plows torn up in the winter. Now, you can build a plate metal box or a barstock or rebar cage around a regular box, or a number of other armor methods. You can also take a double-walled plastic box and fill the cavity with concrete grout. In one neighborhood around here it is popular to have a 10 ft pipe coming off the hillside. It is sleeved into another pipe in the ground, with a 45 elbow (or a bend) and the mailbox is hung with chain off the end. In the Florida case, how did the mail tampering offense get dealt with? Phil Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Francis Trez Cole Posted June 21, 2011 Share Posted June 21, 2011 I made one that pivoted and was counter balanced with a large "hanging basket" ( a large metal bucket )of flowers. One day some kids tried to smash it and when they hit the mail box at high speed ( these kids were clipping them with a old truck )the whole thing pivoted and the "planter" swung around and smashed the heck out of the passenger door. I like the concept you could use a thin brass pin to keep it from spinning in the wind. need some good greased bearings. like the old jousting target got you now fix your car Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ten Hammers Posted June 21, 2011 Share Posted June 21, 2011 My mailbox took out a police car a few years ago. Officer was looking for something he dropped I guess ( at a slow speed < 10mph ). Left front quarter, windshield, hood. The Chief and the City gladly paid me for the repairs to the box. Snowplow took the box off the post last year and the City replaced the post ( in frozen ground ). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ThomasPowers Posted June 21, 2011 Share Posted June 21, 2011 I had a friend whose mailbox was often run over so he built the base to that when it was pushed over it would dig into the ground and rip it's way down the undercarriage. Lots of fluids lost next time he had to go out and set it upright. I guess it wasn't too fun explaining why the gas tank had to be replaced. The fact that your neighbors are doing something illegal does not make it OK for you to do so as well. Find out the law and then go for the loopholes! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wshelley Posted June 21, 2011 Share Posted June 21, 2011 Funny how a story brings back vivid memories... We had the same issue in rural Michigan. My dad's first thought was dynomite and a mercury switch (four mailboxes and posts in about a month). Sanity prevailed and a nice new mailbox was fabbed from 1/4" channel and plate. Attached to a swingaway pipe in another pipe post with a small wood dowel to keep it pointed at the road. The vivid memory is watching TV at about 9:30 and hearing a big four barrel carb open up followed a few seconds later by a loud whang (aluminum baseball bat meeting steel). The dowel was broken and there was a little chip in the paint. Added benefit was without the dowel it stayed in place but allowed you to pivot it out of the way from the seat of the riding mower. Ward Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MLMartin Posted June 21, 2011 Share Posted June 21, 2011 Attach a heavy steel box to a 3 foot coil spring, attach firmly to the ground. Let them swing away, it will only bounce right back! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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