SHOP PRODUCTS
Houzz Logo Print
jemdandy

Mailbox meets Snow Plow

jemdandy
10 years ago

In a match up between our mailbox and the snow plow, the plow won!

According to a village employee, a plow operator was trying to clear the street as close to the curb as he could when the wing plow struck ice in front of our maibox and bounced up smaking the defender under the ribs and laid it low for the count. The defender did not bounce back - end of the match - Snow Plow won! This event happened between 4 am and 5 am Saturday morning (01 Mar 1914) while snow was lightly falling.

This event defined what I did on Saturday. It was impossible to set a new post with the frozen ground, so I patched the post back together holding it together with metal band clamps (like long hose clamps) and nailed a couple of pieces back on. It was cold. My feet got cold before I finished, but I think that it will hold until milder weather. Just to make things interesting, it snowed another 1/2 inch on me and my tools while I was re-mounting the box.

We called the Police to report the property damage and at that time, we did not know what had happened. All we knew was that our box was down. The Police soon discovered what had happened and called us back a couple of hours later to inform us. I was told to contact the Village Hall on Monday to work out details. The street dept. had entered a report of the damage. (I wonder how long it would have taken city hall to call us if we had not called the police?)

That was my Saturday in the hinterlands.

Comments (21)

  • Lindsey_CA
    10 years ago

    Oh, wow. Bummer. But, I would think the Village is now going to be responsible for buying and setting a new post.

  • Marilyn Sue McClintock
    10 years ago

    This happens about every year to ours and our daughter Amber's. Sometimes they get hit more than once a season. We both live in the country.

    Sue

  • Related Discussions

    I'm TIRED of snow

    Q

    Comments (14)
    We're scheduled to get 1"- 5" here in coastal South Carolina late today and tonight! Last time it snowed here was in 1989 and it closed EVERYTHING, because there's no equipment to deal with it. I'm dreading that would happen again. It's already raining, but won't be cold enough until evening to freeze. I love snow, in the right places, but coastal SC ain't the right place!
    ...See More

    New Mailbox

    Q

    Comments (4)
    Restoration hardware has a simple look mailbox in horizontal or vertical for a decent price. They come in a variety of finishes. When we were looking online, I just couldn't bring myself to pay over $100 for a mailbox from some of the other companies. Van Dykes has period mailboxes but unfortunately they are also period style and we found out quickly they are not large enough for today's mail. Good luck. De
    ...See More

    Meet our pets .... LOTS of pictures

    Q

    Comments (79)
    I have no furbabies of my own now, but here are the grandpets First, here is Ruby Do. She is 8. I don't get to see her much. She lives with son-in-law 120 miles away. Dinky the Schnoodle at 2 months. She is close by and subject to spoiling by Grandma Dinky this past summer held by Grandma. She is a die hard lap dog.
    ...See More

    New mailbox cover

    Q

    Comments (5)
    Thanks all. sandyslopes - it never occurred to me that the green mailbox matched the storm door! That was a piece of luck. Yesterday when the mailman came and saw the mailbox cover for the first time I saw him smile.
    ...See More
  • gazania_gw
    10 years ago

    jemdandy, all I want to know is why did you wait 100 years to report it?

  • jkayd_il5
    10 years ago

    This happens almost every year here. It's a good winter if our mailbox isn't knocked down at least once. We just pick it up, repair or replace.

  • alisande
    10 years ago

    That's a shame. What a winter! My mailman fell on ice in the Post Office parking lot and injured several ribs.

  • tami_ohio
    10 years ago

    Will the village replace it? Our county does. In fact they replaced the one on our rental yesterday without being asked. The door was falling off because of the box being hit so hard with snow from the plow. DH was going to replace it in spring. We knew they did if they hit the box and broke it off. DH saw them when he came home and talked to them. They said someone surveys in the winter for snow damaged boxes and reports them. After they are reported, someone comes out and replaces them.

    Sorry you had to fix it in the cold and snow, and hope they replace it for you.

    Tami

  • sleeperblues
    10 years ago

    If our mailboxes get hit by the snowplow, it is our responsibility to replace them. I don't think that's fair.

  • Fun2BHere
    10 years ago

    Wow! That's an amazing picture. The only place I've lived with snowplows, I'm not sure they ever came down my street, so it's interesting to hear that so many of you have your mailbox damaged every year.

  • rob333 (zone 7b)
    10 years ago

    gazinia, you're too funny! Yep, ripped it clean off. Glad it wasn't a side view mirror on a car!

  • ravencajun Zone 8b TX
    10 years ago

    We have had ours knocked down a couple of times but not by snow plows. I think it is the neighbors across the street they back out and don't watch for our mail box. Or people visiting them.
    Thing is they don't even bother to come tell us and offer to fix it or pay for it. The last time it completely broke it at the ground level. My husband had to go buy a new post and dig out the other and really a lot of work, spent a weekend day doing that instead of something he really needed to be doing.

    You are lucky they will replace it for you.

    I too was wondering about the 1914 date LOL

  • juellie1962
    10 years ago

    Ours met a similar fate earlier this year; one of the first plows. And my dh is a welder, so that sucker was SOLID.
    That plow guy sure knew he hit something!! But hey,stuff happens. After once or twice, I'd be making a phone call.

  • frogged
    10 years ago

    There are a lot of dead mail boxes on my way to work. The banks are too high and the plows barrel through to send the snow flying beyond the ditches. A couple boxes were replaced with kitty litter buckets attached to temporary stands/posts. The type where the half of the lid opens and can snap shut. Smart cause they are likely to be hit again before the end of the winter. A number of years ago there was a fellow not far from my parents village his mail box was a favourite of the kids who smashed mail boxes while joy ridding. He modified it so that anyone trying to smash it wouldn't be able to. Unfortunately a car hit it and the people were hurt more because of that. Not sure how it ended but he was in a fair amount of trouble. Good luck, hopefully you won't get hit again.

  • susanjf_gw
    10 years ago

    ouch! now I know why dh is so strict about shoveling and keeping ours as clear as possible...

  • linda_in_iowa
    10 years ago

    In my neighborhood, everyone's mailbox is on their porch. I would be very upset if the plow came through my yard and destroyed my porch. In some parts of my town the mailboxes are at the curb and I never hear of the plows hitting them. Our plow drivers are extra careful.

  • cheryl_ok
    10 years ago

    Hate when that happens! LOL

  • FlamingO in AR
    10 years ago

    We've had that happen to our mailbox several times, but never from a plow. It's either kids being jerks or people turning around in our drive and backing into it. One time though, the county was mowing and they lifted up the cutting blades and sliced the bits on the front of the mailbox that you use to open it, right off! I was astonished when I went to get the mail that afternoon, I had to pry the box open on the sides. We found that annoying but funny at the same time. :)

    Getting our box smashed repeatedly was very irritating and expensive. We finally sunk a smaller box into a larger one and poured cement into the gap. No one smashed that one, or if they did, we couldn't tell. Finally, in fear of a lawsuit, we replaced it with a steel box that weighs about 20 pounds all by itself. No one has bothered that box. We just repainted it, so now it's a good target. Of course, all the kids have grown up and hopefully moved away!

  • jemdandy
    Original Author
    10 years ago

    About that 1914 date, my fingers do not know what my mind is thinking.

    We have been living on this street for 38 years and this is the first snow plow destructuve hit. I used to get small damages from the snow coming off the plow until I installed a box brand named, "Iron Box". It looks like a regular box, but is made of 1/8 inch thick steel. It is weighty.

    Our Post Office has specifications about how high the the box should be and the distance from the curb, so I do not have much variance about placement.

    Outside of town, a few boxes are mounted on a "swing-away" arrangement. The box is mounted on a long pole much like a fishing pole. When it gets hit, it merely swings out of the way like a garden gate. The problem with this sort of mount is making is steady enough so it won't be a nusiance for the Postman to operate. Here in town, such a mount is impractical because the support post would be in my neighbor's yard and a nusiance for him. (The Post Office has mandated that all boxes be on the same side of the street with the result that half of us have boxes on the other side of the road and next to our neighbor's lawn. Although the sodded area goes all the way to the curb, the lot lines do not. I try to keep all my stuff on the outside of my neighbor's lot line.)

    The Village has agreed to replace the post. There are buried wires a mere couple of inches away from the post. These maybe phone lines. I'm happy to off-load that responsibility to them. They'll need to contact the Digggers Hot Line before punching a hole for the new post.

  • oldfixer
    10 years ago

    A friend had that problem. He put up an 8" iron pipe, filled with concrete, topped with a steel mailbox that weighed 65 lb.

  • ruthieg__tx
    10 years ago

    When we lived in MA it was a common occurrence that our boxes got covered in snow. The plow people knew exactly what they were doing and didn't give a crap...they just did it anyway...There were three of us on that post of boxes and we were the only ones that would get out there and get them cleaned up. If we didn't, there was no mail delivery...I know those drivers must have laughed every time they did it ...

  • bengardening
    10 years ago

    MY DH is one of those snowplow drivers. He just told me you have to be driving 40 miles and hour to get the snow so it will go off the end of the blade. He drives a plow not a truck. He can lift his wing up on his until he is past the mailbox. The ones who drive the trucks with the blades can't lift theirs. He can drive his 25 or 26 miles an hour but the trucks have to be doing 40 or all the snow just sticks to the blade. DH has only hit one in 13 years. Our county replaces them unless it is really bad and there is too many of them. DH drives on the county roads not in town.

  • glenda_al
    10 years ago

    good luck on a replacement