I bought one to sand the old paint off the weatherboard of my own house. The sandbelt moves sideways and had to put it back every 5 min. The motor started to smoke after 1 week and that was in winter! Got one exchange from bunnings, motor smoke again after 1 week!

Warning every potential buyer roybi is a joke!! If you buy it with your trade card you dont have any warranty and it will die 10 out of 10! You don't expect to use these cheapie in commercial you don't use them at home either, unless every of your job only last 5 min it may have a chance to survive.....

I bought this sander for a large jarrah bar top. It went ok but then started to smell like it was burning out and sounded like it was struggling. I used it in around 3-4 hr sessions so didn't over work it too much because I new it was a cheapy. Eventually after about 20 hrs of use the drive wheel seized up. I tried cleaning it out and lubing it up be it was stuck and the motor wouldn't spin it.
I don't like to buy cheapish tools but couldn't warrant spending an extra $100 on the next best...I wish I had of.
You can't afford to but cheap crap.

I bought a 3x18" belt sander for my daughter's hobby enterprise & while the tool does a good job sanding, the belt slips left or right on the rollers, requiring frequent repositioning. Being a carpenter contractor whose tools are typically too heavy for most women, the lack of a tension-dial doesn't tighten the rollers against the belt to prevent slippage, something my heavy duty Skil & Black-Decker tools do.

When buying the cheapest there was on the shelf, we expect low quality. But this is like below the belt low. The belt doesn't sit right so it cut the metal frame, which fell off pretty much. Hence the machine crippled itself. Often ripped the belt too. Then it smoked, and then it died.
Green poop.

This is crap. The sand paper constantly slides. Have to constantly adjust, the slightest bit of pressure and slides again. It doesn't sand evenly it's just crap. Do not buy one. Buy a different brand. I have used a lot of sanders and will never buy another Ryobi.

first use of this piece of rubbish was hopeless. its a bad design, difficult to use and in no way worth buying . I wanted a decent belt sander for a spruce up of my front deck and after battling with the ryobi resorted to using my makita orbital sander which was more effective and friendly to use. i have used other ryobi products but this belt sander is very poor and not to be recommended

Borrowed one from a friend and loaded it with 40 and 80 grit paper to take off old varnish and stain from a table top. The rolling drums aren't properly round so vibrate, rumble and dig into the work. It doesn't sand a flat surface no matter how little pressure is applied! Requires correction with a random orbital sander afterwards creating more work.

Used for about 5 minutes before it started putting out plumes of electrical smoke and sparking inside the motor. The smoke was so toxic.

I was sanding down a board and believe me I was careful not to put too much pressure on the machine, letting the sandpaper do all the work, but still failed. Got a refund.

Next day was at Bunnings leaving the car park when I saw a guy coming back in with the same sander. I stopped him and asked if it just died. He said it didn't last half an hour and was almost the exact same story as mine.

Don't buy unless you want to possibly start a fire.

I Brought this sander at bunnings to sand back my deck 15 Mins later went up in smoke ill be returning it
and wont be getting a replacement been told Makita are the go.