Gradall began making its well-known excavator during the 1940's, during a time in which World War II had caused a scarcity of laborers. This decrease in the labor force brought a huge demand for the delicate work of grading and finishing highway projects.
A Cleveland, Ohio construction business referred to as Ferwerda-Werba-Ferwerda faced this particular dilemma first hand. Two brothers, Ray and Koop Ferwerda had relocated to the USA from the Netherlands. They were partners in the firm which had become among the leading highway contractors within the state of Ohio. The Ferwerdas' started to build an equipment that would save both their business and their livelihoods by inventing a model that will do what had previously been manual slope work. This invention was to offset the gap left in the workplace when a lot of men had joined the army.
The initial device 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 in order to move the beams out and in. This allowed the fixed blade at the end of the beams to pull or push dirt.
After a short time, the Ferwerda brothers improved on their initial design. They made a triangular boom to create more power. After that, they added a tilt cylinder that allowed the boom to rotate 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 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 available as well.