The famous Gradall excavator traces its roots back to the beginning of the 1940s. During this time, World War II had created a shortage of laborers since the majority of the young men went away to war. 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 business which experienced this specific problem first hand. Ray and Koop Ferwerda were brothers who had relocated from the Netherlands. They were partners in the firm which had become among the major highway contractors in the state of Ohio. The Ferwerdas' started to make an equipment that would save both their livelihoods and their company by making a model that would perform what had before 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 first invented an apparatus which had 2 beams set on a rotating platform, which was connected on top of a second-hand truck. They utilized a telescopic cylinder in order to move the beams in and out. This allowed the fixed 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 made a triangular boom to create more power. After that, they added a tilt cylinder which enabled the boom to turn 45 degrees in either direction. This new model can be equipped with either a blade or a bucket and the attachment movement was made possible by placing a cylinder at the back of the boom. This design powered a long push rod and allowed much work to be done.
Not a long time later, many digging buckets became available 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 which was also offered.