Gradall began making its well-known excavator in the 1940's, during a time wherein World War II had caused a scarcity of workers. This decrease 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 experienced this particular dilemma first hand. Ray and Koop Ferwerda were brothers who had relocated from the Netherlands. They were partners in the business which had become one of the leading highway contractors within the state of Ohio. The Ferwerdas' started to build a machinery that will save their livelihoods and their company by making a unit that will do what had previously been manual slope work. This creation was to offset the gap left in the workplace when so many men had joined the military.
The initial apparatus these brothers created had 2 beams set on a rotating platform and was fixed directly onto the top of a truck. They used a telescopic cylinder to move the beams out and in. This allowed the fixed blade at the end of the beams to push or pull dirt.
After a short time, the Ferwerda brothers improved on their first design. They made a triangular boom to create more power. Next, they added a tilt cylinder that allowed the boom to turn forty-five 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 back of the boom. This design powered a long push rod and allowed much work to be completed.
Numerous digging buckets were introduced to the market not long later. 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 as well.