Joe Gorman wrote:

wrote:

Bruce,

Google for this topic in R.C.M It comes up every few years and there
were some great suggestions (as well as legal warnings).

My favorite was the person who made a mailbox stand that was attached
to a burried cross of metal. When a car ran over the mailbox, it forced
one of the burried arms of metal up into the pan.

You can always just use wood cladding over whatever piece of metal you
use. For me, that would be a lot easier than doing a nice wood-grain
faux painting job.

Search the archives for rec.woodworking and use "mailbox baseball" for
a lot of reading on the subject.

Oh, just a related note on legal matters, etc.

This happened in eastern Missouri, and laws will be different in different
areas. A farmer discovered some kids had run a 4x4 through his field,
leaving huge ruts, and then got it stuck. He quickly got a big tractor and
towed it into his barn, where he chained up the wheels with the biggest
chains
and locks he had, and then called the sheriff. While the Sheriff was
arresting
the people involved, he had his lawyer notify the owner of the truck
(presumably
the kid's father) that if they ever wanted to see their truck back, they
were
going to have to cover the farmer for all the costs of fence repair,
regrading
the field, maybe replacement of the damaged crop if any at that time, etc.
If those costs weren't met, he was going to seize the truck and sell it.

Jon