Rex Edgar Posted July 3, 2016 Report Share Posted July 3, 2016 Friday, an inattentive driver took out our mailbox and landscaping around the box and paper delivery tubes. In the almost 30 years I have lived at this location, I have erected new mailboxes at least 4 times. I have seen a design that I like: 6x6 (possibly 8x8) mounted at a 45 degree angle with the mailbox mounted parallel to the ground. The area in question is fairly level so there will be some setback from the shoulder of the road. As I stated, I have some experience with this task, but before I plow ahead, I thought I would get some input from the group. I have seen what is available (mailboxes) go down the tube as far as quality. The last box came with no latch to keep the door closed. The stamped edge of the door was expected to keep tension on the side of the box to keep the door closed. Also the mounting is not very robust. I added kitchen cabinet magnets mounted to wood strips and screwed to the 10 o'clock and 2 o'clock positions to keep the door closed and significantly beefed up the mounting area on the bottom of the box. Has anyone had any recent experience mounting mailboxes and paper tubes and what procedures were used. Thanks for reading my ramble........ Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tpt life Posted July 4, 2016 Report Share Posted July 4, 2016 My dad went brick. Figured if someone was going to make him rebuild, they were going to pay for their vehicle. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wtnhighlander Posted July 4, 2016 Report Share Posted July 4, 2016 In 25 years living in our current home, never has the mailbox been hit. Mine is an off-the-shelf box, mounted to a cedar figure-4 style post. I suggest a breakaway design, rather than a substantial brick column, if your box is actually on the right if way. Should someone hit the substantial brick column, you stand a good chance of losing a lawsuit, maybe worse. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Woodenskye Posted July 4, 2016 Report Share Posted July 4, 2016 If this is the 4th time you have had to replace because of people running into it, I agree with C Shaffer, make them feel some pain. I would make a solid concrete reinforced post. If someone hits our mailbox, we got bigger problems, all the mailboxes in our town are next to the front door. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tpt life Posted July 4, 2016 Report Share Posted July 4, 2016 Thousands of brickies in this county alone and I have never heard of a lawsuit. Anyone here have that experience? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Coop Posted July 4, 2016 Report Share Posted July 4, 2016 I had/have mine in a 3" steel post in concrete. 8 years or so, I woke up and it was down. I followed the transmission fluid to a pickup 7 blocks away. Poor fellow was on leave and borrowed his sisters pickup and had been celebrating. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Llama Posted July 4, 2016 Report Share Posted July 4, 2016 My mailbox is attached to my house. If someone ran into it, there would be other issues. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JosephThomas Posted July 4, 2016 Report Share Posted July 4, 2016 3 hours ago, C Shaffer said: Thousands of brickies in this county alone and I have never heard of a lawsuit. Anyone here have that experience? There was a story going around about a guy that reinforced his with steel after it kept getting vandalized, and the next time they tried the old 'drive by with a baseball bat' thing the kid hit it, and was either hurt very badly or killed, and the guy was sued and lost. Will try to find a link. Edit: can't find anything, might be one of those "stories from the internet", lol. But this country is so litigious now, proceed with caution anyway. At least make it obvious that it's strong and reinforced so they can't act like you tried to fool them. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
woodbutcher74 Posted July 4, 2016 Report Share Posted July 4, 2016 Around here it's not vandals that take out mailboxes, it's snowplows. They don't intentionally damage them but when you get tons of snow moving at thirty mph anything that gets in the way gets flattened. I've seen everything from brick to old railroad iron used to put up mail boxes. Never heard of anybody getting sued for having a properly placed mail box. They are protected by federal law. The postal service has pretty specific criteria as far as placement, as long as you follow the requirements I don't think you'll have any problems. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wtnhighlander Posted July 4, 2016 Report Share Posted July 4, 2016 The rules may differ (or just be moot) for those that live in residential neighborhoods, as opposed to rural areas along state highways. My in-laws used to live in a neighborhood, where they had the brick columns flanking the driveway, with the mailbox embedded in one. I live in a rural area, and was warned by my contractor that mailboxes in the right-of-way were required to be of a break-away design. Maybe because the speed limit is higher. Anyway, I don't don't want to kill some poor schmuck because he hit my mailbox. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wdwerker Posted July 4, 2016 Report Share Posted July 4, 2016 My uncle was a master welder. He lived in pretty rough area. After replacing several mailboxes he decided to make one they couldn't break. He worked in a shop that did a lot of work for gas stations. 8' long 6" dia pipe and a mailbox made from 1/4" steel plate. Door was so heavy he had to use bearings and a gas shock to help with the weight. Flag was 1/4" plate too. Used a service truck w an auger and crane to install it. He found some broken baseball bats occasionally but one day a police car was backing out of the driveway across the street and backed under the box. Peeled the trunk lid open like a sardine can ! Uncle was watching from the house. Cop looked around and drove away. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ronn W Posted July 4, 2016 Report Share Posted July 4, 2016 Most simple garden variety mail boxes are mounted to a flat board with screws driven into the edge of the board thru a flange in along the bottom edge of the mail box. That arrangement is fairly secure. The problem with the door and latch is a question of quality. I am making a new mailbox post and just bought a $10 plastic mailbox. The door is flimsy and does not latch closely nicely at all. The next step up is into the $25 to $30 range - metal. A post coming out of the ground at a 45 deg angle - interrsting. I would think that you will have to embed the thing farther i not the ground that if it were vertical. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rex Edgar Posted July 4, 2016 Author Report Share Posted July 4, 2016 This is sort of what I had in mind. I had to get a 6x6 to check out the measurements. If only 1/3 of the height is in the ground (with concrete) is there any way this stays put? My cautious self says that without some additional weight or mass there is too much chance this falls out in the roadway. What's the opinion of the masses? Guidelines specify the bottom of box should be between 41" and 45" above the ground. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wtnhighlander Posted July 5, 2016 Report Share Posted July 5, 2016 Rex, dig out the hole in a V shape, so you can drive a mobile home anchor (auger type) into the ground at 90* to the end of the post, and strap to it. No concrete necessary. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rex Edgar Posted July 5, 2016 Author Report Share Posted July 5, 2016 41 minutes ago, wtnhighlander said: Rex, dig out the hole in a V shape, so you can drive a mobile home anchor (auger type) into the ground at 90* to the end of the post, and strap to it. No concrete necessary. Can you sketch a small image? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ronn W Posted July 5, 2016 Report Share Posted July 5, 2016 I would not count on the dirt to hold the back end down because you have more out of the ground than in the ground, so like the mobile home anchor idea. You definitely need something to hold it down. If your top end is, say, 44" above the ground that will be about 5 ft of 6x6 above the ground. That is quite a long cantilever for the length you have in the ground. Right now, with your 32" dimension, you are less than 24" below grade. I would go a little deeper. I assume that you have an 8' long piece. You might consider a steeper angle to get your embedment in the ground and stay within your 8' piece. No one will notice a few degrees. While an anchor at the low end will hold the low end down depending somewhat on the type of soil you have you can count on the soil under the 6x6 where it leaves the ground to compress a little, maybe a lot over time, from the weight above the ground causing the mail box to sag downward. I think that your design would benefit from some type of extra support that goes straight down located where the 6x6 leaves the ground. Maybe a veritcal 4 x4 about 24" long with the top cut at an angle o the 6x6 sits nicely on top of it. Fasten them together securely. 19 hours ago, JosephThomas said: There was a story going around about a guy that reinforced his with steel after it kept getting vandalized, and the next time they tried the old 'drive by with a baseball bat' thing the kid hit it, and was either hurt very badly or killed, and the guy was sued and lost. Will try to find a link. If you check the USPS site, it appears that mail boxes are required to break-away to avoid injury to unskilled drivers. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rex Edgar Posted July 5, 2016 Author Report Share Posted July 5, 2016 Thanks for all the suggestions. I am going to go traditional, as in 90 degree post with a crossmember for the box. Too much possibility for problems in the future if I try a custom angle installation. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tpt life Posted July 5, 2016 Report Share Posted July 5, 2016 19 hours ago, Ronn W said: If you check the USPS site, it appears that mail boxes are required to break-away to avoid injury to unskilled drivers. I cannot find more than a suggestion that the "best" break away. This is far from requirement. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chestnut Posted July 5, 2016 Report Share Posted July 5, 2016 I tihnk the breakaway is more there to cover rural roadway types where highway departments require a clear zone from the edge of a highway. These clear zones exist as a safe area for drivers to exit the roadway. It'd be interesting to see what type of roadway these lawsuits occurred on, I'm pretty sure there is more to the stories. @Rex Edgar With you saying that you have a roadway shoulder and are not on a Curb and Gutter road I'd go with something that is painless to install. It stinks that people keep hitting your mailbox but at least you don't have to fix their cars. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wtnhighlander Posted July 5, 2016 Report Share Posted July 5, 2016 True story: my in-laws used to live in a cul-de-sac, and had sizeable brick columns flanking a 2-car width driveway. Both columns were taken out in a matter of minutes by an elderly neighbor, trying to execute a three-point turn. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ronn W Posted July 6, 2016 Report Share Posted July 6, 2016 9 hours ago, C Shaffer said: cannot find more than a suggestion that the "best" break away. This is far from requirement. I stand corrected. It is only suggested. Thank you. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rex Edgar Posted July 6, 2016 Author Report Share Posted July 6, 2016 11 hours ago, C Shaffer said: I cannot find more than a suggestion that the "best" break away. This is far from requirement. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rodger. Posted July 6, 2016 Report Share Posted July 6, 2016 Just switch to electronic billing - no mailbox needed! ? Seriously though, my mailbox at my previous home (rural) was on a 4*4 post. It took its share of hits, bit was easily replaceable. A larger concern for me was losing my mail if the box was damaged. I moved shortly after, and now we use a community mailbox in our subdivision. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BeautysBeast Posted July 7, 2016 Report Share Posted July 7, 2016 In TN, you cannot legally "Cement" your mailbox in. However, a brick column type is considered "break away" and acceptable. I do not believe they reinforce them with rebar, just build a square wood box, and brick around it. It will probably break a baseball bat, or the kids arm that is trying to smash it with said baseball bat, but that is their problem. I imagine if a car hit it, it would crumble. Mine is right before the drainage culvert. If you hit my box, your going to drop three feet into the ditch. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wtnhighlander Posted July 7, 2016 Report Share Posted July 7, 2016 The brick columns I mentioned previously were constructed with no foundation, just a paving block set about 2 courses below grade. Guess that complies with the 'breakaway' design rule. Sure worked when the old lady backed into them! ? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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