Gradall began making its famous excavator during the 1940's, during a time wherein World War II had created a scarcity of workers. 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 that experienced this particular dilemma first hand. Ray and Koop Ferwerda were brothers who had moved from the Netherlands. They were partners in the business that had become among the major highway contractors within the state of Ohio. The Ferwerdas' set out to build a machine which will save both their business and their livelihoods by inventing a model which will carry out what had before been manual slope work. This creation was to offset the gap left in the worksite when lots of men had joined the military.
The initial apparatus these brothers invented had 2 beams set on a rotating platform and was fixed directly onto the top of a truck. They utilized 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 pull or push dirt.
The Ferwerda brothers improved on their first design by creating a triangular boom to produce more strength. After that, they added a tilt cylinder that enabled the boom to turn forty-five degrees in either direction. This new unit could 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 a lot of work to be completed.
Not a long time after, many digging buckets became available 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 that was available too.