The famous Gradall excavator traces its roots back to the beginning of the 1940s. During this time, World War II had caused a scarcity of laborers because the majority of the young men went away to war. This decrease in the work force brought a huge need for the delicate work of grading and finishing highway projects.
A Cleveland, Ohio construction company referred to as Ferwerda-Werba-Ferwerda faced this particular problem first hand. Two brothers, Koop and Ray Ferwerda had moved to the USA from the Netherlands. They were partners in the firm that had become one of the leading highway contractors within the state of Ohio. The Ferwerdas' set out to make a machine which would save their company and their livelihoods by inventing a model that will carry out what had previously been manual slope work. This creation was to offset the gap left in the workplace when a lot of men had joined the army.
The first apparatus these brothers invented had 2 beams set on a rotating platform and was fixed directly onto the top of a truck. They utilized a telescopic cylinder in order to move the beams in and out. This allowed the connected blade at the end of the beams to pull or push dirt.
The Ferwerda brothers improved on their first design by making a triangular boom to create more strength. Then, they added a tilt cylinder which allowed the boom to turn 45 degrees in either direction. This new unit could be equipped with either a blade or a bucket and the attachment movement was made possible by placing a cylinder at the back of the boom. This design powered a long push rod and allowed a lot of work to be done.
Numerous digging buckets were introduced to the market not long later. These buckets in sizes varying from 15 inch, 24 inch, 36 inch and 60 inch buckets. There was additionally a 47 inch heavy-duty pavement removal bucket that was available too.