The well-known Gradall excavator traces its roots back to the start of the 1940s. During this time, WWII had created a shortage of workers because the majority of the young men went away to fight the war. This decline in the work force brought a huge need for the delicate work of grading and finishing highway projects.
A Cleveland, Ohio construction business referred to as Ferwerda-Werba-Ferwerda experienced this particular dilemma first hand. Two brothers, Koop and Ray Ferwerda had moved to the United States from the Netherlands. They were partners in the company that had become amongst the leading highway contractors in the state of Ohio. The Ferwerdas' set out to make a machinery which would save their business and their livelihoods by inventing a model which would carry out what had previously been manual slope work. This creation was to offset the gap left in the workplace when so many 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 out and in. This enabled the fixed blade at the end of the beams to push or pull dirt.
The Ferwerda brothers improved on their initial design by making a triangular boom to produce more power. After that, they added a tilt cylinder that enabled the boom to rotate 45 degrees in either direction. This new unit could be outfitted 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 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 which was also offered.