Gradall began making its well-known excavator during the 1940's, during a time wherein WWII had caused a shortage 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 company which faced this particular problem first hand. Ray and Koop Ferwerda were brothers who had moved from the Netherlands. They were partners in the company that had become among the major highway contractors in Ohio. The Ferwerdas' started to build a machine which will save both their livelihoods and their business by inventing a unit which will perform what had previously been physical slope work. This creation was to offset the gap left in the workplace when a lot of men had joined the army.
The initial apparatus these brothers invented had 2 beams set on a rotating platform and was attached directly onto the top of a truck. They utilized a telescopic cylinder to be able to move the beams out and in. This enabled the fixed blade at the end of the beams to push or pull dirt.
The Ferwerda brothers improved on their initial design by creating a triangular boom to create more strength. Next, they added a tilt cylinder that allowed the boom to turn 45 degrees in either direction. This new model can 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 finished.
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 also offered.