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Posted by NapalmHeart on April 15, 2008, 7:10 pm
>
>
>>
>>> letterman@invalid.com wrote:
>>>
>>>> Does anyone know what the height is supposed to be for a rural
>>>> mailbox? I live on a rural gravel road and there is a deep ditch
>>>> next
>>>> to the road. I 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. In 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. This way I can put the
>>>> post down at the bottom of the ditch, and the mailbox will not
>>>> overhang the road. This seems like a more sensible method and it's
>>>> unlikely the plow will hit it. The only problem is that after I
>>>> installed it, the mailbox is only about 40" above the road level.
>>>> It
>>>> 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. I plan to put
>>>> concrete
>>>> around the post, but until I know the acceptable height limits I am
>>>> not going to do that. Right now I just packed some rocks around
>>>> the
>>>> post in the hole, so I can get my mail. (Its too cold to make
>>>> concrete anyhow). And I suppose if I make a sleeve, the post and
>>>> mailbox will rotate when it gets windy.
>>>>
>>>> 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.
>>>>
>>>> It's just a bad place to put a mailbox. On 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
>>>
>>> I had an idea. I searched the web and found this in about ten
>>> seconds:
>>>
>>>
>>> "The distance from the bottom lip of the mailbox to the curb, or
>>> street
>>> is a minimum of 42 inches and a maximum of 48 inches. The front of
>>> the
>>> box should be 6 - 9 inches from the curb."
>>>
>>> I'd treat your post hole like a well. One deep one is better than
>>> forty
>>> shallow ones. Dig the damn six foot deep hole, and put in a four
>>> inch
>>> diameter pipe set in a couple of bags of concrete. Put a large
>>> orange
>>> flag on it that sticks up about three feet above your highest
>>> expected
>>> snow drift.
>>
>> If your design isn't break-away and the snow plow truck hits and
>> damages the truck or someone slides into it with a car and gets hurt,
>> you may be liable, depending on the laws of your state.
>>
>
>
> ya right. _I'M_ liable, cause HE can't drive??? Not likely.
>
> s
The road commission in my county has successfully sued people who made
their mailbox posts immovable. The mailbox posts were hit by the end of
the truck blade and caused damage to the frame of the truck, $50,000
worth in one case. The person who made this installation was very lucky
the truck driver wasn't hurt.
Ken
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