Gradall began making its famous excavator in the 1940's, during a time wherein World War II had created a scarcity of laborers. This decline in the work force brought a huge need for the delicate work of grading and finishing highway projects.
Ferwerda-Werba-Ferwerda was a Cleveland, Ohio based construction company that faced this specific problem first hand. Koop and Ray Ferwerda were brothers who had relocated from the Netherlands. They were partners in the firm that had become one of the major highway contractors in the state of Ohio. The Ferwerdas' started to build an equipment which would save both their business and their livelihoods by making a unit that would carry out what had before been manual slope work. This creation was to offset the gap left in the worksite when so many men had joined the military.
The initial device these brothers invented had 2 beams set on a rotating platform and was connected directly onto the top of a truck. They used 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 pull or push dirt.
The Ferwerda brothers improved on their initial design by creating a triangular boom to create more strength. Next, they added a tilt cylinder which allowed the boom to turn 45 degrees in either direction. This new unit could be equipped with either a bucket or a blade 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.
Numerous digging buckets became available on the market not long after. These buckets in sizes varying from 15 inch, 24 inch, 36 inch and 60 inch buckets. There was also a 47 inch heavy-duty pavement removal bucket which was offered too.