Gradall began producing its famous excavator in the 1940's, during a time in which the second World War had caused a shortage of laborers. This decline in the labor 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 which experienced this particular dilemma first hand. Ray and Koop Ferwerda were brothers who had relocated from the Netherlands. They were partners in the company which had become amongst the major highway contractors in Ohio. The Ferwerdas' started to make an equipment that will save their business and their livelihoods by inventing a model which will carry out what had previously been manual slope work. This invention was to offset the gap left in the worksite when lots of men had joined the army.
The initial apparatus these brothers invented had 2 beams set on a rotating platform and was attached directly onto the top of a truck. They used a telescopic cylinder to move the beams in and out. This enabled the connected blade at the end of the beams to pull or push dirt.
After a short time, the Ferwerda brothers improved on their first design. They created a triangular boom to produce more strength. Next, they added a tilt cylinder which enabled the boom to turn 45 degrees in either direction. This new unit could 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 a lot of work to be finished.
Not a long time later, numerous 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 available.