Mailboxes and snowplows

I saw some business cards for this business in the post office this morning. This seems to be a reoccuring thread, so I thought I would post this for general information.

Usual disclaimers.

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Earle Rich Mont Vernon, NH

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ERich10983
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A neighbor on the road where I grew up in northern Michigan made one of those for himself AT LEAST 30 years ago. It's been hit by the plows and vandals time after time after time through the years, but when I left the area 8-9 years ago, it still stood there, looking pretty near as good as it did the first time I remember seeing it, back in about 1973. A couple dings and dents, some paint scuff, that sort of thing, but nothing to stop it from working just as well as the day it was new.

About the only way to trash one of them is for the plow to hit the upright squarely, completely wiping out the whole thing. If the post is set far enough back (with an appropriate adjustment to the length of the swinging arm) that's never going to be a problem. For extra protection, add the neighbor's refinement: A rebar and expanded metal bumper/cage around the mailbox.

Just don't do what our next-door neighbor did... The guy punched an empty 55 gallon drum down onto four 2 foot tall chunks of rebar (that were already staked into the ground 18 inches or so deep) stuck a post with his mailbox on it in the center, then filled the barrel with sand. Come about turkey-day, when the first real freeze of the year was happening, he ran a line out to it and filled it with water. In mid-January, there was a helluva snowstorm, so of course, the plows were out and about. Me and my brother were home from school (Bus couldn't get any of the kids on our route) watching TV when we heard a mighty BANG from just down the road. Next thing we knew, a miniature avalanche slammed into the side of the house. When we got outside to see what the heck had happened, we found a county snowplow laying on its side in our front yard.

Once the driver was out and talking about what happened, we found out that he caught the mailbox-in-the-barrel with the right-hand end of the plow, which spun him end-for-end several times before dropping him into the ditch to flip over into our yard. Apparently, the combination of barrel, sand, stakes, water, and well-below freezing temperatures for several weeks had worked together to form your basic "immovable object". Along came the plow, AKA "unstoppable force", and things got just a little bit messy.

Needless to say, there was a bit of a flap about it, and the "mailbox stand" went away when the thaw started and it became possible to bust it loose.

On the plus side of the ledger, I understand that claims against the county for mailboxes destroyed by plows dropped to a 20 year low through the rest of that snow season and into the next...

Reply to
Don Bruder

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