Help me reinforce my mailbox post

[bedn0009]

Hi. My mailbox has been hit 4 times in the past 10 years. Twice by USPS - and 3 of the 4 were "hit and run" situations. I'd like to reinforce this post so that the next time it's hit, the damage goes to the vehicle rather than my post. Any ideas?

 

[fishwatcher]

The quick-fix product I've used (not great, but might work) is this, from Simpson Strong tie.

I guess a brick / concrete structure around the post would be how you really make it undesirable for cars to hit it.

 

[wssix99]

There are lots of ways you can reinforce it so that it damages a vehicle, but I expect you will run into issues unless the post is on your property. Is it currently on an easement or do you own the ground the post is on?

 

[JeepYJ]

It’s against the “rules” to have your mailbox post so solid it causes damage. Maybe look at moving it back away from the road

 

[nadogail]

I have seen mail boxes mounted on old coil springs so that they might be able to bounce back if they were not destroyed by the impact.

Alternatively they could be on a long arm with the post away from the roadway.

 

[SlotlessMan]

I gave up on the reinforcement and decided to just add a 3/4" threaded plastic sleeve under the box itself to act like a shear pin. When the box gets hit, the sleeve breaks and the box falls off, but the post remains intact. Replace the plastic sleeve and you are back in business. Won't help with the box getting hit but the repair is fast and cheap!

 

[mrb1]

Gave up on that game long ago on a rural country road. So just use one of these now. Average one or two a year here.

 

[cvairwerks]

Set the upright back a couple of feet and then hang the box from chains off of a long cross arm.

 

[Spud McGee]

Gonna agree with what been said about there being rules, and you assuming some level of liability for making your mailbox too strong.
One such case made it all the way to the ohio supreme court, where the vandal ended up paralyzed and sued the homeowner. Homeowner won. I bet it probably would have been cheaper and less hassle to replace the mailbox 10x.

Personally, i would take it down or pull it back from the road. Mailman wants to keep hitting it? Fine, now he can get out of his car and walk your mail up to your front door.

If I was gonna fortify one, I would try to make it look decrative. Build a flowerbox around it or surround it with brick. At least that way, you can argue in court that your intention was not to make an indestructible mailbox of death. You were just making it look pretty and it happened to be strong, too.

 

[chris142]

Go to your local diesel rebuilder. Ask him for an old crankshaft for a 855 Cummins, series 60 Detroit or big cat engine. Plenty of those here

 

[gahrajmahal]

Mine is now a 6 x 6 pressure treated post set in the soil. Now the post doesn’t get broken in half just pulled out of the ground. Our mailbox is heavy duty large size that is locking. Pull the door open and there is only a 1” wide slot. We need a key to get the mail out. The mailbox is tuff to straighten when it gets hit, but has been un-mangled twice.

 

[oldmachinenut]

Mount it on a Czech hedgehog

 

[jabberwoki]

Bury 6 ft of railroad track and weld you mailbox platform to it

 

[Steve W.]

Mine just got hit last week. Driver surprisingly came back and admitted fault, then paid for replacement. (Claimed he swerved to avoid an animal.)

First strike on the box since I installed it about 15 years ago. Just a large box on a 4x4 post, no special reinforcement, just some recessed bricks bracing it against the curb to keep it from leaning toward the road.

.

 

[PoorUB]

A neighbor had problems with his mailbox getting knocked over. He buried a 4" heavy wall pipe in the ground 4-5 feet. The top on the pipe was just aboove ground level. The pipe had a four bolt flange welded to it. The upper mail box post was made from the same material with a mating four bolt flange at the bottom. He bolted the flanges together with grade 2 bolts so they would sheer off easily and just had a handfull of bolts and nuts handy. Someone would plow into it and he would walk out with wrenches and bolts on in ten minutes it was back up.

 

[Zino1]

Hi. My mailbox has been hit 4 times in the past 10 years. Twice by USPS - and 3 of the 4 were "hit and run" situations. I'd like to reinforce this post so that the next time it's hit, the damage goes to the vehicle rather than my post. Any ideas?

Make sure you check your local laws ... take a look at this.

 

[ybnormal]

take a 3" steel post 6ft long, insert 3' into ground right next to mailbox post, fill with concrete, paint to match

 

[Zeke]

I have seen mail boxes mounted on old coil springs so that they might be able to bounce back if they were not destroyed by the impact.

Alternatively they could be on a long arm with the post away from the roadway.

Seems like the arm would be a target. Now put that arm on a swivel centered by springs....

 

[dcg9381]

We've had 100% masonry mailboxes and 100% steel mailboxes demolished. Like wiped off the face of the earth.
As others have stated, you can't purposely design to cause damage and there is a liability issue if "too strong". You can "bump proof" a bit, but that's about it.

Put a good camera pointing at it.. That's my solution.

 

[David99]

Use a piece of 4 inch PVC pipe, paint it black - most people will avoid it as they are worried it's really iron pipe & still allows the mailbox to break away if hit.

From the USPS website-

Installing the Mailbox Post​

The best mailbox supports are stable but bend or fall away if a car hits them. The Federal Highway Administration recommends:

• A 4″ x 4″ wooden support or a 2″-diameter standard steel or aluminum pipe.
• Avoid unyielding and potentially dangerous supports, like heavy metal pipes, concrete posts, and farm equipment (e.g., milk cans filled with concrete).
• Bury your post no more than 24″ deep.

 

[P51Mustang]

I live on a state highway. About once a year a state snow plow driver will hit my mail box when clearing snow. The state DOT will replace the mail box when this happens. A few years ago after a bad year when they took out the mail box three or four times the local DOT guys put the box up on the same kind of break away post thet they use for stop signs and other road signs. This allows them to easily change the post out. They also moved the post back about a foot or so from where it was. Since they did this they have only had to redo the post once and it only took a few minutes to do. With the break away post the over sized box that I had mounted on the post was still in good enough condition to reuse.

 

[bobg03]

My friend lives in Connecticut, he works for a commercial division of Overhead Door. He lives on a 2 lane, no shoulder state highway where the weight of plowed snow would impact his mailbox.
He obtained a large commercial garage door spring and welded box on top and buried other end in concrete. Almost 4 years and counting.

 

[Stuart in MN]

Alternatively they could be on a long arm with the post away from the roadway.

Set the upright back a couple of feet and then hang the box from chains off of a long cross arm.

This sort of installation is typical in my area.

 

[duneslider]

It’s against the “rules” to have your mailbox post so solid it causes damage. Maybe look at moving it back away from the road

Never seen this rule, curious where such a rule is and what exactly it says. Happen to have a link? I see an whole lot of mail boxes in my state that are extremely "solid". I have never heard of anyone getting in trouble for a well constructed mailbox either. I also remember when I was a kid someone kept taking out every mailbox on the street and one guy made a "very solid" mailbox and the postman (woman) left him a "way to go note". Mailbox damage seemed to stop after that.

The CCR's in my old neighborhood required brick mailboxes that matched the house.

 

[driftpin]

We have at the front porch mail delivery, but I can see now where I could have scavenged the McPherson strut spring from the strut, on a recent car maintenance job, and used that with an in the ground anchor, for a mailbox post. That's if we had a roadside mailbox.

 

[JeepYJ]

Never seen this rule, curious where such a rule is and what exactly it says. Happen to have a link?

How to Install a Mailbox | USPS

Follow Postal Service regulations to buy, make, and set up a mailbox so you don't have any interruption in mail service.

www.usps.com

 

[Spud McGee]

Make sure you check your local laws ... take a look at this.

Thats the one I mentioned above. It made it to ohio supreme court and the driver mailbox owner eventually won.

 

[isb cornbinder]

Go to your local diesel rebuilder. Ask him for an old crankshaft for a 855 Cummins, series 60 Detroit or big cat engine. Plenty of those here

One of the mechanics from work used a Cat crank under his mailbox. Very strong.

 

[JeepYJ]

One such case made it all the way to the ohio supreme court, where the vandal ended up paralyzed and sued the homeowner.

In the YT video linked above it said that the driver hit black ice and slid into the mailbox post and the truck ended up rolling over leaving the driver paralyzed. No vandalism involved. Not everyone knocking your mailbox over is a punk kid needing to learn a lesson.

 

[Spud McGee]

In the YT video linked above it said that the driver hit black ice and slid into the mailbox post and the truck ended up rolling over leaving the driver paralyzed. No vandalism involved. Not everyone knocking your mailbox over is a punk kid needing to learn a lesson.

that sounds exactly like something a punk kid vandal would say.

 

[Alchase]

My mailbox is 24” X 24”X 3’ brick enclosed. Most of them in my area and all in my neighborhood are done this way.
They get knocked down occasionally, but no one gets sued.

 

[Citation]

My parents used a fence post. I think ceder or some other wood that didn't rot in the ground. It was buried as deep as any other fence post (perhaps 3' down). It was very rare that a car that hit the post left without something to remember the post by. At least once the car had to be towed. Sadly, in that case one car ran the other off the narrow road. The driver who hit the post was just trying to avoid a more serious object.

 

[Uncle murph]

Gonna agree with what been said about there being rules, and you assuming some level of liability for making your mailbox too strong.
One such case made it all the way to the ohio supreme court, where the vandal ended up paralyzed and sued the homeowner. Homeowner won. I bet it probably would have been cheaper and less hassle to replace the mailbox 10x.

Personally, i would take it down or pull it back from the road. Mailman wants to keep hitting it? Fine, now he can get out of his car and walk your mail up to your front door.

If I was gonna fortify one, I would try to make it look decrative. Build a flowerbox around it or surround it with brick. At least that way, you can argue in court that your intention was not to make an indestructible mailbox of death. You were just making it look pretty and it happened to be strong, too.

This. I know of two cases locally where it was fatal,one was well casing filled with concrete that cut the car in half not sure of the details on the other or if either of the box owners were sued.

 

[kwb]

There is a mailbox stand for about 10 boxes not far from me. Posts look to be about 8" wide Flange Beams topped with about a 12" Channel and 1/4" Plate ends to support a wood framed roof. The parts that went into the ground were really small looking - Guessing 2x2 Angle Iron.

Looks like a brick ********* but if it was actually hit at any sort of speed it would tip over. Like the PVC pipe idea posted above. Look intimidating but really not likely to cause any real harm to anyone beyond one hell of a crease in a body panel if you drag your car along it.

 

[evintho]

Steel and concrete.

 

[dfiler2]

About 20 years ago the county offered to replace your mailbox post for free one time. They put in this style that swings away when hit by the plow, most all in the county have been replaced by now.

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07QR7J1S9/?tag=atomicindus08-20

 

[Rc_Guy]

Gonna agree with what been said about there being rules, and you assuming some level of liability for making your mailbox too strong.
One such case made it all the way to the ohio supreme court, where the vandal ended up paralyzed and sued the homeowner. Homeowner won. I bet it probably would have been cheaper and less hassle to replace the mailbox 10x.

Personally, i would take it down or pull it back from the road. Mailman wants to keep hitting it? Fine, now he can get out of his car and walk your mail up to your front door.

If I was gonna fortify one, I would try to make it look decrative. Build a flowerbox around it or surround it with brick. At least that way, you can argue in court that your intention was not to make an indestructible mailbox of death. You were just making it look pretty and it happened to be strong, too.

Can’t be too big of a flower box, because the snow plow still has to move the snow.

 

[ToddG]

Neighbor has a Gabion wall type mailbox. 2'x2' cage filled with rocks. Wouldn't want to hit it....

 

[KEH]

I have a mailbox post made from front coil springs(1955 Ford). The springs bend over and have to be reinforced. I used two
pieces of light pipe welded inside the springs. Put the post assembly in concrete. It was hit once by a car going off the road, breaking the reinforcing pipe. The post was repairable with a little welding. I kept my mouth shut and repaired it, never heard any more about it. Kid that ran off the road may have been under the influence. Long time ago. Recently someone hit a deer and knocked it into the post, loosening it in the ground. I moved it upright and still using it, The mail boxes there are across the road so the post is on someone else's property.

I like Poorub's comments in post #15.

KEH

 

[msharley]

Here?

The fool SnowPlow Driver takes out my mailbox.........

Just about every time he starts the truck.....

I buy them six at a time....