Gradall began producing its well-known excavator in the 1940's, during a time wherein the second World War had caused a shortage of workers. This decrease in the work 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 problem first hand. Koop and Ray Ferwerda were brothers who had relocated from the Netherlands. They were partners in the firm that had become amongst the leading highway contractors within Ohio. The Ferwerdas' started to build an equipment that will save both their business and their livelihoods by inventing a unit that will carry out what had previously been manual slope work. This invention was to offset the gap left in the worksite when so many men had joined the army.
The first apparatus these brothers invented had 2 beams set on a rotating platform and was fixed directly onto the top of a truck. They used a telescopic cylinder in order to move the beams out and in. This allowed the connected blade at the end of the beams to pull or push dirt.
The Ferwerda brothers improved on their first design by making a triangular boom to create more strength. Next, they added a tilt cylinder that enabled the boom to rotate forty-five 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 rear of the boom. This design powered a long push rod and allowed a lot of work to be done.
Many digging buckets were introduced to the market not long after. These buckets in sizes ranging from 15 inch, 24 inch, 36 inch and 60 inch buckets. There was also a 47 inch heavy-duty pavement removal bucket that was available too.