Gradall started making its well-known excavator in the 1940's, during a time wherein WWII had caused a scarcity of laborers. This decrease in the work force brought a huge need for the delicate work of grading and finishing highway projects.
A Cleveland, Ohio construction business 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 firm which had become one of the major highway contractors within the state of Ohio. The Ferwerdas' set out to build a machine which will save their company and their livelihoods by making a model which would carry out 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 first device these brothers created had 2 beams set on a rotating platform and was fixed 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 push or pull dirt.
The Ferwerda brothers improved on their first design by creating a triangular boom to produce more power. Then, 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 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 done.
Not a long time later, numerous 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.