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Posted by BobK207 on April 13, 2008, 4:13 am
On Apr 13, 12:47=A0am, letter...@invalid.com wrote:
> Does anyone know what the height is supposed to be for a rural
> mailbox? =A0I live on a rural gravel road and there is a deep ditch next
> to the road. =A0I originally put a wooden post right on the edge of the
> road, but in summer the box just falls over after heavy rains because
> the edge of the road to ditch is so steep that there is nothing to
> really dig in to, unless I put the post hole about 6 feet deep.
> Besides that, the box is actually hanging over the road, and more than
> once a car has hit it. =A0In the winter, the snow plows have broken off
> the post several times, and that just happened this past winter again.
> I drove a steel t-post next to the wooden post and wired it on, but it
> rained hard the other day and I found the mailbox in the ditch again.
>
> I'm completely fed up with fixing that damn thing about 5 times a
> year, which means I have now fixed it around 40 times since I moved
> here 8 years ago.
>
> I just took an 8 foot piece of 2" steel pipe and welded a shelf on
> top, that sticks out 3 feet past the post. =A0This way I can put the
> post down at the bottom of the ditch, and the mailbox will not
> overhang the road. =A0This seems like a more sensible method and it's
> unlikely the plow will hit it. =A0The only problem is that after I
> installed it, the mailbox is only about 40" above the road level. =A0It
> looks low compared to neighbors boxes or what my old wooden post was.
> I'm only in the ground about 16" so I cant raise it any more.
>
> Is there some measurement that the post office requires?
>
> If it's too low, I'll have to either weld on more pipe at the bottom,
> or maybe get a larger pipe and make a sleeve. =A0I plan to put concrete
> around the post, but until I know the acceptable height limits I am
> not going to do that. =A0Right now I just packed some rocks around the
> post in the hole, so I can get my mail. =A0(Its too cold to make
> concrete anyhow). =A0And I suppose if I make a sleeve, the post and
> mailbox will rotate when it gets windy. =A0
>
> Another thought is to put some old tires around the post and fill them
> with concrete, which so far seems to be the best idea I can come up
> with, and then I could raise the post in the ground. =A0
>
> It's just a bad place to put a mailbox. =A0On the other side of the road
> it would be easy since there is no deep ditch, but the P.O. said they
> wont deliver on that side.
>
> Anyone have ideas?
>
> thanks
checkout
http://www.rcocweb.org/about/answer.asp?FAQID=3D23
Your mailbox is a little low, ask the letter carrier what he/she wold
prefer 42 to 48 seems about right.
2" is a bit large & might create "fixed object" hazard. The pole
should break away if hit. Consider putting a 2" pipe into the ground
(really deep) & then reducing to 1.5" via a bell reducer or bushing &
coupling. That way, if hit, the piece the ground will survive & the
above ground pipe can be replaced easily.
Your mailbox cannot overhang the road, it must be back away from the
pavement edge so it will not be hit. But within reach for the letter
carrier.
cheers
Bob
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