The well-known Gradall excavator traces its roots back to the beginning of the 1940s. During this time, World War II had caused a scarcity of workers as most of the young men went away to fight the war. This decline in the work force brought a huge demand for the delicate work of grading and finishing highway projects.
A Cleveland, Ohio construction company known as Ferwerda-Werba-Ferwerda experienced this specific 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 within Ohio. The Ferwerdas' set out to build a machine that will save both their livelihoods and their business by inventing a model that will carry out what had previously been physical slope work. This invention was to offset the gap left in the workplace when so many men had joined the military.
The brothers initially created a device that had 2 beams set on a rotating platform, which was attached on top of a second-hand truck. They utilized a telescopic cylinder to move the beams in and out. This allowed the fixed blade at the end of the beams to pull or push dirt.
The Ferwerda brothers improved on their initial design by creating a triangular boom to produce more strength. After that, they added a tilt cylinder which enabled the boom to turn forty-five degrees in either direction. This new model 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 much work to be done.
Not a long time after, many digging buckets were introduced on the market. These buckets came in 15 inch, 24 inch, 36 inch and 60 inch sizes. There was additionally a 47 inch heavy-duty pavement removal bucket which was also offered.