Gradall started making its famous excavator during the 1940's, during a time in which the second World War had created a shortage of workers. This decline in the labor force brought a huge need for the delicate work of grading and finishing highway projects.
Ferwerda-Werba-Ferwerda was a Cleveland, Ohio based construction company which experienced this specific dilemma first hand. Ray and Koop Ferwerda were brothers who had relocated from the Netherlands. They were partners in the firm which had become one of the leading highway contractors within the state of Ohio. The Ferwerdas' set out to make a machinery that would save both their livelihoods and their company by inventing a unit that would carry out what had previously been manual slope work. This invention was to offset the gap left in the workplace when lots of men had joined the army.
The initial apparatus these brothers created had 2 beams set on a rotating platform and was fixed directly onto the top of a truck. They used a telescopic cylinder to move the beams out and in. This allowed the attached blade at the end of the beams to push or pull dirt.
The Ferwerda brothers improved on their first design by creating a triangular boom to create more strength. Next, they added a tilt cylinder that allowed the boom to turn forty-five degrees in either direction. This new unit could be outfitted with either a bucket or a blade and the attachment movement was made possible by placing a cylinder at the rear of the boom. This design powered a long push rod and allowed a lot of work to be completed.
Not a long time later, many digging buckets were introduced on the market. These buckets came in 15 inch, 24 inch, 36 inch and 60 inch sizes. There was also a 47 inch heavy-duty pavement removal bucket that was offered too.