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 since nearly all of the young men went away to fight the war. This decline in the labor force brought a huge need for the delicate work of grading and finishing highway projects.
A Cleveland, Ohio construction business known as Ferwerda-Werba-Ferwerda experienced this specific dilemma first hand. Two brothers, Ray and Koop Ferwerda had moved to the USA from the Netherlands. They were partners in the firm which had become among the leading highway contractors in Ohio. The Ferwerdas' started to build an equipment which would save both their company and their livelihoods by making a model that would do what had before been manual slope work. This creation was to offset the gap left in the workplace when so many men had joined the military.
The brothers first invented an apparatus which had 2 beams set on a rotating platform, which was fixed on top of a second-hand truck. They utilized a telescopic cylinder to be able to move the beams in and out. This allowed the attached blade at the end of the beams to push or pull dirt.
After a short time, the Ferwerda brothers improved on their initial design. They created a triangular boom to create more strength. Then, they added a tilt cylinder that enabled the boom to rotate forty-five degrees in either direction. This new model can 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 finished.
Not a long time after, numerous 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 also offered.