The famous Gradall excavator traces its roots back to the beginning of the 1940s. During this time, WWII had created a shortage of workers since nearly all of the young men went away to war. This decrease in the labor force brought a huge demand for the delicate work of finishing and grading highway projects.
Ferwerda-Werba-Ferwerda was a Cleveland, Ohio based construction business which experienced this specific dilemma first hand. Koop and Ray Ferwerda were brothers who had moved from the Netherlands. They were partners in the company that had become amongst the leading highway contractors in the state of Ohio. The Ferwerdas' set out to build a machinery which will save their livelihoods and their business by making a unit which will carry out what had previously been physical slope work. This invention was to offset the gap left in the workplace when a lot of men had joined the military.
The first device 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 be able to move the beams in and out. This allowed the attached blade at the end of the beams to push or pull dirt.
The Ferwerda brothers improved on their first design by making a triangular boom to create more strength. Next, they added a tilt cylinder which enabled the boom to turn forty-five degrees in either direction. This new model could be equipped with either a bucket or a blade 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 finished.
Numerous digging buckets were introduced to the market not long later. 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 that was offered as well.