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I came home from my trip last night to find, surprisingly, the road neatly plowed. (A rare occurrence in my rural area.) Then I found the new guy who just moved in down the road over the summer plowing his driveway.

He was on a little tractor thing with a plow attachment in the front. He was taking nice long sweeps, pushing the snow down his driveway, and into the road. The road in front of his driveway was nothing but piles of snow! Mounds and blobs and heaps of snow! Across the road from his driveway is an open field. He couldn't possible push the snow clear ACROSS the road and into the field. No, he pushes it into the road and leaves it there.

I just love neighbors. :thumbdown: Shall I report him to the town? Plow it all back up into his driveway? Leave him a nasty note? Rant about him on an on-line forum? :biggrin:

AndyMan said:

I came home from my trip last night to find, surprisingly, the road neatly plowed. (A rare occurrence in my rural area.) Then I found the new guy who just moved in down the road over the summer plowing his driveway.

He was on a little tractor thing with a plow attachment in the front. He was taking nice long sweeps, pushing the snow down his driveway, and into the road. The road in front of his driveway was nothing but piles of snow! Mounds and blobs and heaps of snow! Across the road from his driveway is an open field. He couldn't possible push the snow clear ACROSS the road and into the field. No, he pushes it into the road and leaves it there.

I just love neighbors. :thumbdown: Shall I report him to the town? Plow it all back up into his driveway? Leave him a nasty note? Rant about him on an on-line forum? :biggrin:

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Go ahead and rant, we all do here. Believe me, I sometimes push snow to the shoulder, but NEVER, EVER leave it in the road. Report him, and if it were me I would tell him very firmly that is ILLEGAL, and if he causes a stuck car or accident he will be found liable.

Here is my rant...a contractor backed into my treated 4X4 mailbox post in late summer, they had it replaced the same day, even set the new one in concrete. I came home from a retirement party late Tuesday, the fricking county had clipped my post two feet off the ground, in broad daylight, bright sun, and no drifiting at all. I took pics of the whole mess, sent them to the county road commission, two days later, still no reply. First they hire drunks who hit posts in clear weather then they refuse to answer citizen complaints althought they say they will answer them promptly. So much for local government employees....

Report him to the city. Here, there is a $200 fine for putting snow onto the street. That includes throwing shovelful of snow onto the street to melt on a sunny day. You are allowed to plow across a street as long as you make sure it is all cleaned up.

indypower said:

Report him to the city. Here, there is a $200 fine for putting snow onto the street. That includes throwing shovelful of snow onto the street to melt on a sunny day. You are allowed to plow across a street as long as you make sure it is all cleaned up.

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My next door neighbor is a city policeman, he says they will NEVER issue a citation to someone for putting snow in the street unless it's a blatant violation or causes an accident.

AndyMan said:

Shall I report him to the town? Plow it all back up into his driveway? Leave him a nasty note? Rant about him on an on-line forum? :biggrin:

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Heck ...
Do all four... It pays the same. :smile:KennyV

I'd stop and tell him that it should go across the road and not IN the road ---- then if he did not push it out of the road or it happened again ---- He might just find a driveway FULL of snow ! :biggrin: :tongue: :laughing:

I am engaged in an ongoing battle with the county road commission about repairing my damaged mailbox post. It's so obvious they hit it, as there is no farm or construction traffic on the roads this time of the year, and the several pictures I sent them clearly show plow scrape marks an inch away from the base of my mailbox post, and there are no wheel or tire tracks in the snow by the post, and it was broken off at a height about 34 inches from the ground, much higher than most vehicle bumpers. They say somebody came out to look at the damage (!!!!!) and because I had screwed a temporary pvc sleeve on to support the post so we could get our mail and news, they told me 'we see no evidence that one of our plows hit your post". DUHHHH. About what I expect from local government. A trench contractor hit the same post in the summer, they came to my door and apologized, and by the end of the day they had replaced the post. Contrast that to the local county road crew, send somebody out at $25 an hour just to kill time, then say "we didn't do it, tough luck".

And I pay taxes to support to support their operations while they hire incompetents who knock down mailbox posts on a perfect sunny day. WHAT A FARCE, I am going to start pushing my snow into the road from now on. SCROOM.

JDgreen said:

I am going to start pushing my snow into the road from now on. SCROOM.

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How will that effect them??... that only inconveniences you and your neighbors that use the road...

You have to continue contacting them until they return for a face to face, where you can show them the damage...
Or just replace it and consider it a cost of living in your county... :smile:KennyV

Around here, snowplows are a fact of life, and we have come up with a few different solutions to the mailbox problem:

1. Put the mailbox on an L-shaped arm, it looks like metal piping of some sort, with one arm of the L in the ground and your mailbox on the other end. When the plow hits the box, it simply swings away and swings back.

2. Anchor the mailbox post into a concrete block or an old milk jug (one of those 2-foot tall black jobs). Set the block or jug into position. When the plow hits the box, the whole thing tips over, and you simply stand it up again.

3. Keep repairing the post, bit by bit, adding on reinforcements as needed until spring. Replace the post each spring.

4. Get a Post office box. :biggrin:

We too have lost many a mailbox to the snowplough, we are also the last folks to be snowplough out in a storm because we are on the outskirts of town, if there is a big storm, you can expect days of delays.

AndyMan said:

Around here, snowplows are a fact of life, and we have come up with a few different solutions to the mailbox problem:

1. Put the mailbox on an L-shaped arm, it looks like metal piping of some sort, with one arm of the L in the ground and your mailbox on the other end. When the plow hits the box, it simply swings away and swings back.

2. Anchor the mailbox post into a concrete block or an old milk jug (one of those 2-foot tall black jobs). Set the block or jug into position. When the plow hits the box, the whole thing tips over, and you simply stand it up again.

3. Keep repairing the post, bit by bit, adding on reinforcements as needed until spring. Replace the post each spring.

4. Get a Post office box. :biggrin:

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You have to be kidding...PAY for a PO Box and burn five miles worth of gas and a half hour of time to go get my mail and newspapers every day? The law says vandalizing mailboxes is a federal crime, why are the road commission employees exempt from that law? I think they do it on purpose. And my local PO says they will not make deliveries to a box that is not fixed into place. When the post if broken off, it is not possible to anchor a new one into the frozen ground.

monica123 said:

We too have lost many a mailbox to the snowplough, we are also the last folks to be snowplough out in a storm because we are on the outskirts of town, if there is a big storm, you can expect days of delays.

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The local road commission clearly says in writing "we will pay for damages if one of our plows hits a mailbox or post" but they almost never do. Fricking liars try to weasel out of every damage claim they get...why do we have to pay taxes to support their incompetent drivers? I drove heavy straight commercial trucks for a living for 31 years thru all kinds of winter weather, much of what was far worse than what we get here locally, and I never put a scratch on anybody's property. Stupid bunglers.

Your discussion about the mailbox reminds me of the cartoon movie, "Up."

JDgreen, I can feel your frustration. I think I would want to do all four things you said if I were in your place. But I think calling the police is best.

minkyung said:

Your discussion about the mailbox reminds me of the cartoon movie, "Up."

JDgreen, I can feel your frustration. I think I would want to do all four things you said if I were in your place. But I think calling the police is best.

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LOL thanks, I got a policeman living next door within yelling distance who is a great guy. Road commission plow hit HIS mailbox last winter, they replaced his box prompty. Maybe I'm in the wrong line of work (retired) LOL LOL.

JDgreen said:

And my local PO says they will not make deliveries to a box that is not fixed into place. When the post if broken off, it is not possible to anchor a new one into the frozen ground.

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Our box is on a post that is anchored into a concrete block. The concrete block sits on the ground. If it is knocked over, we just pick it up. The post office has never said a word about it not being actually IN the ground.

P.S. The REALLY smart folks around here simply have their mail forwarded to Arizona or Florida or wherever they are wintering!

AndyMan said:

P.S. The REALLY smart folks around here simply have their mail forwarded to Arizona or Florida or wherever they are wintering!

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Ha ha:laughing: ... I like that! :smile:KennyV

How about mounting your mailbox to a 6" steel pipe set deep in lots of concrete. That will get their attention.:laughing:

jenkinsph said:

How about mounting your mailbox to a 6" steel pipe set deep in lots of concrete. That will get their attention.:laughing:

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Let me guess, you must have seen that episode of "CSI" set in Las Vegas, where the rural guy was so tired of kids destroying his mailbox he filled one with concrete and set it on a heavy post, when the kid hit the box with a bat it broke his arm and crashed the car...they charged the guy with homicide, but I say the little b--------s deserved what they got.

Anyhow, as I interpret the law here, if you install a mailbox on the public right of way that is constructed in a manner as to cause damage or injury to persons or property hitting it you can be found liable for the damages or injury. Believe me, I want to put up something really, really strong like you suggest, but it is basically illegal.

JDgreen said:

...Believe me, I want to put up something really, really strong like you suggest, but it is basically illegal.

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Can NOT do that anywhere, it has to be break away.
I know there are a lot of 'decorative' indestructible mail boxes and posts out there... some are quite creative.
But if you check with your postmaster you will find there are guidelines that cover the construction... If something is damaged because of your deviation from those designs... your liable for any damage. It would be nice to get those that vandalize property, setting traps to do it is questionable ... to some. :smile:KennyV

Did you guys miss the smilie?:laughing:

jenkinsph said:

Did you guys miss the smilie?:laughing:

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No I cough that:laughing: ... what you suggested was the approach a lot of rural places did years ago... before it started becoming a road hazard...
Too bad there is no way short of video monitoring to get these folks.. :smile:KennyV

JDGreen, hitting a mailbox or messing with a mailbox is a federal crime isn't it? I would tell them to repair the damages or I would take it to higher authorities.

BGC said:

JDGreen, hitting a mailbox or messing with a mailbox is a federal crime isn't it? I would tell them to repair the damages or I would take it to higher authorities.

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Attached picture is the one I took of my mailbox post back in mid-December when I found it broken, sent it to the county and know what they told me? QUOTE: "We did not hit your post, THE BREAK IS TOO HIGH FOR OUR PLOW TO HAVE DONE IT" (emphasis added).... But the picture clearly shows scrape marks up to the base of my post and NO TIRE TRACKS.

Well, wait until you see the picture I sent the road commission yesterday !!!

I saw the grader plow coming down the road yesterday, ran out and put my trash bin by the shoulder to keep them away from my mailbox, then waited and took this picture...sent it to the road commission saying "ARE YOU GOING TO TELL ME AGAIN YOU DONT HAVE ANY PLOWS THAT ARE HIGH ENOUGH TO HAVE BROKEN MY POST?" I lucked out with the pic, took it with my Blackberry, got one shot and it was perfect....:biggrin: