How are your mail boxes built? Around here it typically a 4x4, in the ground or plastic molded thing, or brick. With this snow I have seen at least 35 knocked over, blown off the pole and pole snapped off from the snow plow stream of snow and ice coming off the blade. I have never noticed this before and it got me thinking about places that get a lot more snow each year.

I've seen them get broken when actually hit by the plow, but not what you've described. Interesting.

Plow drivers do a good job missing them here, unless they don’t like you. We have been denied rural delivery, so we get a free post office box.

Mines a 4x4 , its survived many heavy snows and snow plow berms...I put reflective sticks along the grass border of the road for the plow drivers to stay on the road, though any driver worth a lick doesn't need it.. unfortunately that ability seems to be lacking in most of them...

The people who actually get mail delivery at their houses usually have them hanging off a pole they set up high at a 45° angle. The box hangs off the pole on chains so it just swings if it gets clipped

About the best thing I've seen is a mail box on a pivot, it raises up out of the way, and the mail carrier pulls on a rope to get or deliver the mail.
The fulcrum is aways from any harm.

That would confuse our mail lady, she can't even close the box door so it actually closes...these DEI hires must have taken the short bus to school...

you can google Freudenthal Mfg in Medford Wi to see what they make......great unit

LOL Yeah, I know what you mean anymore!

We get a lot of wet, heavy snow and have many damaged boxes. It isn't the plow hitting them it is the snow.. The plows keep up speed to throw the snow into the ditch, away from the road and that is like hitting the boxes with a sack of sand at 30 or 40 miles an hour. Most people plant a bigger post beside the box to break the force of the snow.

SundanceMtnMan x2. On the plow and the box setup

There was a couple young punks in my area last year. As they drove up to a mail box they would open the car door and snap the box off the pole. One old man beat them at their own game by pouring concrete to make a solid foundation for the pole. When the young kids opened their car door to break it, it snapped their car door of instead!

This works good, swings out of the way then comes back

A pallet or a piece of plywood screwed to the side of the post blocks the heavy wet snow from the snowplow from toppling them here

This is what all of us in the County have. Apparently the county got tired of all the calls about the new drivers smoking mailboxes. About 6 years ago, they replaced all the mailbox posts (not boxes) to the swinging or break away kind pictured.

a lot of people here use a pallet or half sheet of plywood

they put 3 T posts in about 2 feet before the mail box and then wire the plywood to the T posts so that they take that load of heavy wet snow and slush

often a few reflectors and a reflective numbers so that the address is seen.

Most here just use a round fence post, I used to have the piece of paper that had the regulations on it for mailboxes here, basically no mailbox could pass it so they refuse to use any of them if they wanted.

This is what I figured happened. My wife said all over the local pages people are complaining about their boxes geting destroyed. She didn't make any friends when she replied to them they would be complaining just as loud if their roads didn't get cleaned off but their mail boxes were unharmed.

Ours only got the side smashe un some but bent back out with a little effort. A few years back I moved it off the road another 4 ' and made a gravel spot the mail lady could pull off the road more safely and that distance probably saved my box

We generally don't get a ton of snow. Typically it's more ice and freezing rain with snow maybe 3 or 4 time a year seldom more than an inch or two.