The well-known Gradall excavator traces its roots back to the start of the 1940s. During this time, World War II had created a scarcity of workers as the majority of the young men went away to fight the war. This decline in the labor force brought a huge need for the delicate work of grading and finishing highway projects.
Ferwerda-Werba-Ferwerda was a Cleveland, Ohio based construction company that faced this specific dilemma first hand. Ray and Koop Ferwerda were brothers who had moved from the Netherlands. They were partners in the company that had become amongst the leading highway contractors within the state of Ohio. The Ferwerdas' set out to build an equipment that would save their livelihoods and their company by inventing a unit which would do what had previously been manual slope work. This creation was to offset the gap left in the workplace when a lot of men had joined the army.
The brothers initially created an apparatus which had 2 beams set on a rotating platform, that was connected on top of a second-hand truck. They utilized a telescopic cylinder to be able to move the beams in and out. This enabled the fixed blade at the end of the beams to push or pull dirt.
The Ferwerda brothers improved on their first design by creating a triangular boom to produce more power. Then, they added a tilt cylinder which allowed the boom to rotate forty-five degrees in either direction. This new model could 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 completed.
Many digging buckets became available on the market not long after. These buckets in sizes varying 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 as well.