Mail savers: Wooden mailbox protectors becoming new fad in Saginaw, Bay City region

FRANKENLUST TOWNSHIP Robert Hardt grew sick and tired of picking up the remains of his mailbox after snowplows and snow knocked it loose.

So this winter he did something about it.

Before the snow started to fly, Hardt built wooden protectors for four of the mailboxes along southbound M-84 in Frankenlust Township.

"When you have snow being thrown, we used to have to replace two or three (mailboxes) a year," the 44-year-old Hardt said. "It's happened several times. I don't even keep track. We started putting (the protectors) together this year. We drill some holes and cement them down."

Hardt lives in one of the houses along M-84 with his family and rents out the other three houses next to his to tenants. With the new additions in front of the mailboxes, Hardt hasn't had to pick up his mailbox this year.

The line of four mailboxes along M-84 isn't the only place where the wooden protectors are being seen. They have dotted the area, whether done by professionals or at home in their own garage.

"It's getting to be more in popular demand," Hardt said. "I think some people just do it themselves. I see more and more of them put out, especially on highways such like this. If you travel along M-20 towards Mount Pleasant, I bet 50 percent of the people out there have them."

Hardt, who is the owner and works at Asphalt Bituminous Concrete, said that the wooden protectors for the mailboxes took him about 45 minutes to 1 hour to build and that all he needed was a few 2x6 wood boards, screws and some cement for the ground.

Hardt said that building it with gaps in the protector allows some of the snow to get through, but not enough to damage the mailbox.

"We've had a wet snow this year," Hardt said. "That's why there is a gap there. It let's some of it come through, but not all of it."

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Mail savers: Wooden mailbox protectors becoming new fad in Saginaw, Bay City region