Gradall started producing its well-known excavator during the 1940's, during a time wherein WWII had caused a scarcity of workers. This decline in the work force brought a huge need for the delicate work of finishing and grading highway projects.
A Cleveland, Ohio construction company known as Ferwerda-Werba-Ferwerda faced this particular dilemma first hand. Two brothers, Ray and Koop Ferwerda had moved to the United States from the Netherlands. They were partners in the company that had become amongst the major highway contractors within Ohio. The Ferwerdas' started to build an equipment which will save their livelihoods and their business by making a model which would perform what had before been physical slope work. This invention was to offset the gap left in the worksite when so many men had joined the army.
The brothers initially invented an apparatus that had 2 beams set on a rotating platform, which was connected on top of a second-hand truck. They used a telescopic cylinder to be able to move the beams out and in. This allowed the attached blade at the end of the beams to push or pull dirt.
After a short time, the Ferwerda brothers improved on their initial design. They made a triangular boom to create more strength. Next, they added a tilt cylinder that enabled the boom to turn 45 degrees in either direction. This new unit 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.
Many digging buckets were introduced to the market not long after. These buckets in sizes varying from 15 inch, 24 inch, 36 inch and 60 inch buckets. There was additionally a 47 inch heavy-duty pavement removal bucket that was offered too.