It would be nice to have something to use with my rural mailbox to tell if the mail has come when I don't have any outgoing. I oten forget to check by that late in the afternoon - busy with other things like making my supper. My delivery time varies, I suspect because different deliverers. Currently it's late in the afternoon, sometimes after 4 PM.
I'e not tried Googling yet.
TIA
Depends on the style of mailbox. If you have the "traditional" rural box with the rounded top, there used to be an outfit that made a pop up flag (yellow panel parallel to the roadway for high visibility at the house) that attached to the top. The trigger was just an extension that slipped beneath the mailbox door when YOU closed it (armed it) which would allow the flag to pop up when the carrier opened the door to deposit your mail.
Should be easy enough if you're at all handy to make up something along that line. Alternatively, maybe a yellow tennis ball on a nylon cord rigged to fall out when the door is opened (hint: forewarn the carrier so he/she doesn't get upset) and would hang there in plain site when the mail was delivered.
Lastly, I think I've seen radio alert units that do the same thing sending a signal to a receiver in the house.
About three decades ago, Popular Mechanix had a gadget in article. It was a swing arm. When the letter carrier opened the door, the swing arm showed over the top of the mail box. My first thought was the first snow or freezing rain, and it would not pivot. I can remember it well enough to draw it on paper, if you want.
This isn't it:
but might do your required task.
Is the mailbox visible from the house? I have a mailbox made by Rubbermaid that has a flag that comes up on the side when the box is opened. It is on the left side looking from the house.
I've also seen some other pop up flags that can be added, but never looked at the details. Would be nice to have an alarm of sort go off. Probably exists too!
Way back in 1957 there were lots of devices that did this. They set a yellow flag that we could see from our house 120 feet from the box.
Oours only had 3 metal parts counting the yellow flag, plus a screw and a metal weight. Ours used the weight to make the flag go up. Others used a mechanical arm forced down by the door to pull up the flag.
I think a radio would be fine if you couldn't even see the mailbox, but otherwise it's far more cost and trouble than need be.
or
Per Unquestionably Confused:
My #2 daughter gave us one of those a couple years ago.
Our (steel) mailbox is about 100' from the house and I thought it was the dumbest thing I'd ever heard of: "Dinky little radio inside a steel box, AAA batteries... give me a break!"
Works like a charm and the batteries last at least 3 months - maybe six... I haven't been keeping that close of a track.
KenK posted for all of us...
Let us know when you find what you want.
Can't you make sort of a reverse flag that falls down below the box when th e postman opens the door to put mail in the box? That's what one of my nei ghbors has done.
Our mail sometimes comes as early as 2pm, and sometimes as late as 8 pm. I t used to be you could set your watch by our mail lady, 3 pm +/- 15 minutes . But after she got transferred to another route, the times went to 5pm +/
- 3 hours. No pattern to the variations that we can figure out. And, ca lls to the Post Office have fallen on deaf ears.
In Canada many rural mail boxes had a red flag on them that the mail carrier would pop up when he put mail in the box.
We use that flag to let the carrier know we have mail to be picked up.
Here in the USA, at least every place I know of, the red flag is put up when there is outgoing mail, and when you can see the flag is down, then you know the mailman/woman has come and picked up your outgoing mail and maybe left you something.
My neighbor has a second flag (sort of) that is released when the mailbox door is opened, and it falls down so they know the postman/woman has opened the door.
There's something about which way the box is turned too - Long time since I had to deal with a rural mail box. facing the road=full, parallel to the road+ empty?
snipped-for-privacy@att.net wrote: "Our mail sometimes comes as early as 2pm, and sometimes as late as 8 pm. It used to be you could set your watch by our mail lady, 3 pm +/- 15 minute s. But after she got transferred to another route, the times went to 5pm + /- 3 hours. No pattern to the variations that we can figure out. And, c alls to the Post Office have fallen on deaf ears. "
Budget cuts, route consolidations. Guess my situation isn't that bad after all! .... 3pm +/- 2hrs. No pattern here either. Now how many DECEASED carriers is the P.O. still paying pensions to?
Not in my part of the U.S. The boxes are solidly mounted with the door facing the road. It's red flag up to alert the mail carrier to stop. The carriers keep moving it they have no mail to drop off and the flag isn't up.
I bought my folks a battery operated transmitter. It chimes in the house and lights a red led when the mailbox door is opened. Works very well for them, but I don't know what the range is. I bought it from Heartland, but I don't think they stock them anymore. You might check Amazon.
The side flag is for pickup. I've seen some box designs tht also have a small flag on top that pops up when the door is opened.
I saw a setup once where the box & post swayed back and forth whe mail was put in it. The swaying could be stopped when the owner retrieved their mail. I once drove down a street it must have been just after delivery because half the boxes there were swaying. I thought it was what I had for lunch until a proud homeowner saw me stopped, and came out to explain what she and her neighbors had installed(!) She got her mail out of the box and pressed a button on the post - the box stopped swaying.
Or, the resident would put the flag up if there was a letter going out.
Per (PeteCresswell):
That being said, I still like the spring-loaded pop-up flag idea better.
No batteries, no questions.... just works.
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