Novel Approach
Almost every time we experience a significant snowfall, the snow thrown up by the plow clearing our road knocks our mailbox off its post. Luckily, our mailbox is made of molded plastic, and can be remounted with moderate effort, but the plastic is getting damaged a bit each time. Also, it is annoying to be forced to fix it after every storm.
I’ve been pondering coming up with some way to shield the mailbox from a direct blow by deflecting the snow that rolls off the plow blade as the truck races past. One idea was to make a decorative arching arbor over the mailbox. Another was to create some variation of a cone shape that I could mount on a post beside the mailbox so the blast of snow from the plow would be deflected around the wide, flat surface area of the mailbox. Both of these solutions would best be fabricated during any time of the year that is not winter. Since the problem of snow storms will be around for a while yet this year, I’ve been hoping to come up with something I could try immediately.
I decided to try making a deflector out of snow last night. When the sun dropped below the horizon, I figured I better get some pictures of the progress up to that point, while there was still enough light to see it, but these shots were taken before I finished it with a wider top to cover the exposed ends of the mailbox.
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My hope is that it will freeze solid enough before the first test that it doesn’t just collapse and add mass to snow that rolls off the blade into the side of our mailbox as the truck cruises by.
I won’t have long to wait. The storm warning we are under today is for 8-12 inches of snow, followed by heavy winds. The threat is significant enough that the Governor of Wisconsin has declared a state of emergency! That’s enough to keep Cyndie and me home from our workplaces and off the roads for the day, where we’ll be saving our energy for yet another session of plowing and shoveling to come. …And trying to figure out where we are going to put it all!
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Relative Something 
Hey John, found you. We could use some of that snow!
arjayel
February 20, 2014 at 4:55 pm
arjay, you did find me! I don’t know why they can’t start filling up trains, trucks, and buses with the incredible excess we have here, to deliver some excellent water by the time they arrive at your parched reservoirs.
johnwhays
February 20, 2014 at 11:41 pm
Somewhere there are photos(slides) of a solution…….created by our dad for this very same problem! My recollection is a pipe in the ground set back from the road then pipe toward the street. The mailbox on this pipe was able to be swung so when plow or snow hit it it just moved out of the way! Remember??????
Judy
February 20, 2014 at 1:29 pm
I absolutely do remember that solution and the photo! I’m pretty sure it’s in my farm slideshow. I’ve considered moving to that style, but for the time being have been trying to make the existing one work.
Checking out other mailboxes in the area, I’ve found some, but surprisingly, not very many, of that swing-arm style.
johnwhays
February 20, 2014 at 11:38 pm