Searching For The "Perfect" Mailbox

[redintn]

Great job!!!
And it is bullet proof, somewhat.

[MTBob]

Great job!!!
And it is bullet proof, somewhat.

Redintn: Them's fight'in words. In fact that's one of my worries, I suspect that to some this beast looks like a target, not a mail box. I'm guessing the side walls are OK up to about a .30 caliber... and, I'd bet that some SOB is going to test it. On the other hand, that's where a MM251 comes in handy... fixing bullet holes.

[redintn]

I have knocked down my share of boxes in the past.
Now that I am a home owner I have lost a few, I dont b@#$ch to much.
Pay back I recen.
My brother picked on one for a few weekends, kept pulling it up with a truck.
Left it alone for a few weeks, went to pull it up one night.
The owner had dug a hole 3' x 3' drove in "T" fence posts (5 or 6) and filled the hole with concrete. Well the owner never out one back up after it got pulled.
Wonder why we aint jail?
Any way, I would not mess with one now.

[Bolingerb]

I to have had problems with Mail box destruction. I lived in my house for eight years before my mail box was destroyed. Now it is maid all out of 3/16" steel The box lasted for 4 years until one day the hinges on one side was destroyed. I just brought it to the shop and reworked the hinges and put it out for more fun. I like your box and hop it makes it.

[DrBob]

Great Job, MTB!
A suggestion: form the reflective tape to show your house number. That'll help out first time visitors at night.
For people like Jeff and the .30cal bandits, a claymore tripwired to the post and some reactive tank armor would be good

DrBob

[redintn]

Great Job, MTB!
a claymore tripwired to the post and some reactive tank armor would be good
DrBob

**** I dont care you are, that some funny stuff right there.

[gda]

I had mailbox problems too. You can't see my house from the road and my road curves perfectly for a car to line up. I got so mad I built a 3/8" plate mailbox and got a 6" diameter pipe to hold it. Sadly I never put it up because, living in Massachusetts, I would just end up in court when the "poor youth with a promising future" got ripped out of his moving car when he tried to take it out with a bat.

[DrBob]

I would just end up in court when the "poor youth with a promising future" got ripped out of his moving car when he tried to take it out with a bat.

Well, GDA use MTBob's idea and mount the box so it'll swivel out of the way when hit by the bat (or a snowplow blade. I lost so many boxes to the orange rod that shows the snowplow guy where the edge of his plow is that I wound up pouring a new footing and setting a new brick column 14" further back. The Postman has to get out of his seat now but at least there's a box to put the mail in

DrBob

[MTBob]

Well, this post continues to have interest, so let me kick it one more time by telling the rest of the story (first, my humble apologies to any postal employee that this may offend - I love our mail carrier, he's a great guy):

I began this project like any good citizen would, by collecting the facts from the folks who would use the mail box the most, the Post Office. I visited our local office to ask them whether they had any standard designs, recommendations or other references. A bad idea. The first problem was simply getting inside someone's office to actually talk to a human. Apparently the Post Offices are a bit paranoid about folks going "postal"... After this experience I can see why.

The first person I talked to said it "was not her job" (I've come to find out that these are the first four words that begin any sentence uttered by a postal clerk). She then sent me to another Post Office. But, before I left she told me that what ever I was making was not going to work because the only mailboxes they would service had to be approved by the United States Post Office. Oky Dokey... off I go to the next bureaucratic...

So, I go to the next Post Office and after passing the Homeland Security screening (just short of a full cavity search) and after entering a bullet proof combination locked door, I finally sat down in front of the Post "Master". I figgered I'd gotten to the person who knew just about everyting. I told her why I was there and the first words she said: this "was not her job". We then talked about mailbox design. She pulled out some wrinkled forms that showed the precise height, offset from the road and a bunch of other irrelevant details. The more questions I asked, the more shrill her voice became.

Finally, we got around to the real issue. These folks don't like anyone putting a mail box on a post that can't be easily knocked over by a mail delivery car going 2 MPH. When I told her I was going to use a 4" steel pipe driven 5 feet into the ground, she went nuts, telling me that if her mail delivery guy hit the post it might kill him. I asked her if most of their mail carriers delivered mail while intoxicated. Wrong comment. At that point I was thinking of going postal, but simply told her that it sounded like a great way to clean out the gene pool - and, while she was sputter'in, I got up an left. At that point I decided to do what ever the **** I wanted to do - which, after thinking about these events - is what I should have done to start with.

There are lots of lessons learned from this experience and I'm sure you'all have your share to tell as well.

[richard86]

That's a great story Bob. It sounds like you had some fun with the build. There was a story about mailboxes and kids with bats on CSI last season. Kid gets killed and mailbox owner tries to hide it. I hope you'res don't get tested, cause at 20 mph and a swinging bat even with swivel I don't think that box is going to give.. I never understood what fun destroying others property would be.

Thanks for the great story.

Rich