The well-known Gradall excavator traces its roots back to the beginning of the 1940s. During this time, World War II had created a shortage of workers 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 finishing and grading highway projects.
Ferwerda-Werba-Ferwerda was a Cleveland, Ohio based construction business that experienced this particular problem first hand. Ray and Koop Ferwerda were brothers who had relocated from the Netherlands. They were partners in the company which had become among the leading highway contractors in Ohio. The Ferwerdas' started to make a machine which would save their company and their livelihoods by making a model which would do 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 brothers initially invented a device which had 2 beams set on a rotating platform, that was attached on top of a second-hand truck. They utilized a telescopic cylinder 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 produce 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 equipped 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 much work to be finished.
Numerous digging buckets were introduced to the market not long after. These buckets in sizes ranging from 15 inch, 24 inch, 36 inch and 60 inch buckets. There was additionally a 47 inch heavy-duty pavement removal bucket which was offered too.