Gradall began making its famous excavator in the 1940's, during a time wherein WWII had created a scarcity of workers. This decline in the work force brought a huge need for the delicate work of finishing and grading highway projects.
Ferwerda-Werba-Ferwerda was a Cleveland, Ohio based construction company that faced this specific dilemma first hand. Koop and Ray Ferwerda were brothers who had moved from the Netherlands. They were partners in the business that had become among the major highway contractors in Ohio. The Ferwerdas' set out to make an equipment which will save their business and their livelihoods by making a model that would perform what had previously been physical slope work. This invention was to offset the gap left in the workplace when lots of men had joined the military.
The brothers first invented an apparatus which had 2 beams set on a rotating platform, that was fixed on top of a used truck. They used 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 first design. They created a triangular boom to produce more power. Then, they added a tilt cylinder that enabled the boom to turn 45 degrees in either direction. This new unit can be outfitted with either a blade or a bucket 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 done.
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 also available.