# Ryobi RYAC801 3 Winter Storm Review



## murray21 (Mar 11, 2015)

Well I`ll keep it short.

Specs:10 AMP motor
Directional Chute Control
upto 25ft of throwing ability
3 Year warranty

Pro: 
-Light Weight Machine. Much less then anything gas. 
-Comfortable Grip handle
-Chute Slats don`t freeze, hence no clogging of any sort. 
-Electric. No gas issues, or any tuneups needs. Maintenance free.
-Cleans to the ground.
-Relative low Cost: $129 From HD

Cons:
-Slats rather than actual chute. Degree of movement limited to 45 degrees only
-Slats are plastic hence very very limited amount of time before they break or fall off from the mechanism to turn them. 
-slat mechanism is inside the actual plastic housing. PITA if you need adjust a loose slat. 
-Unable to move more then 2 inches of wet or packed snow. 

Background:
I had a murray 21 single stage that threw a bearing and block was cracked. Still needed a blower and my local hardware store had this in stock. It seemed powerful enough. 

1st and 2nd Snow: 4 Inches of non-packed snow. 
Conclusion: Great machine. Threw like or better than my old gas. Cleans better to the ground then my old murray did. However very limited chute control as it has not chutes but rather slats that direct the snow up a limited vertical angle. The snow can only be directed horizontally about 45 degrees. If the slates face forward 25ft easily. If the slats are pointed to either 45 degree angle, then that number gets reduced to less than 5 feet. Motor tends to bog down when approaching snow (but nothing too terrible). Used for 30 minutes and then let it rest as it starts smelling like burning rubber. 

3rd Snow: 8 inches of packed snow.
Conclusion: Didn`t fare all that great. Threw like or better than my old gas. However this time it needed twice the number of passes from before. Also needed the old tilt the machine to work its way at the higher totals. This resulted in some of the snow packing underneath the machine and being unable to be cleaned at the very end. Same limited chute control as it has not chutes but rather slats that direct the snow up a limited vertical angle. The snow can only be directed horizontally about 45 degrees. If the slates face forward 25ft easily. If the slats are pointed to either 45 degree angle, then that number gets reduced to less than 5 feet. After about 15-20 minutes the rubber smell came back (aka in heavier amounts expect less consistent usage time). 


Overall: 
Yay if you have to get less than 4 inches non-packed per storm
Nay if you get more then 4 inches or 4 inches of packed or wet snow per storm.


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## Kiss4aFrog (Nov 3, 2013)

Thanks for sharing your experience and thoughts.


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## sscotsman (Dec 8, 2010)

Good review Murray!








thanks..

Scot


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## sscotsman (Dec 8, 2010)

Unfortunately the people who are most likely to get 4" or less per storm, consistently, are those in the Mid-Atlantic and areas with "mild" winters..
they are also more likely to get the very wet and dense snow each time, because the warmer climate generally means less snow overall, 
and wetter snow overall...which makes a machine of this type ideal for virtually no one.










Scot


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## bwdbrn1 (Nov 24, 2010)

Yes, thank you for your detailed review. I'm sure it will be helpful to potential buyers of this machine.


The recommended usage mentioned in the details section on HD's page lists light fluffy snow and paved surfaces.

Ryobi 16 in. 10-Amp Electric Snow Blower-RYAC801 - The Home Depot


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## wdb (Dec 15, 2013)

Thanks for posting. To be honest it sounds like the machine is designed for the type of snow that I use a shovel on. Although I do recall a winter a few years back where it seemed to snow 1/2" - 1" almost every night for a few weeks. Something like this might have found a warm spot in my heart that year.


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