Gradall Forklift Parts - All through the time when World War II caused a scarcity of laborers, the legendary Gradall excavator was born in the 1940s as the brainchild of two brothers Ray and Koop Ferwerda. The brothers faced the problems of a depleted workforce due to the war. As partners in their Cleveland, Ohio construction company known as Ferwerda-Werba-Ferwerda they lacked the available workers to be able to do the delicate job of finishing and grading on their interstate projects. The Ferwerda brothers chose to build an equipment which would save their company by making the slope grading job easier, more efficient and less manual.
Their first design model was a device with two beams set on a rotating platform that was attached on top of a used truck. A telescopic cylinder moved the beams back and forth which enabled the fixed blade at the end of the beams to pull or push dirt. Soon enhancing the very first design, the brothers made a triangular boom to add more strength. Additionally, they added a tilt cylinder which let the boom rotate 45 degrees in both directions. A cylinder was positioned at the back of the boom, powering a long push rod to enable the machinery to be outfitted with either a blade or a bucket attachment.
Gradall introduced in 1992, with the introduction of the new XL Series hydraulics, the most innovative adjustment in their machinery ever since their invention. This new system of top-of-the-line hydraulics enabled the Gradall excavator to deliver high productivity and comparable power to the more traditional excavators. The XL Series put an end to the first Gradall equipment power drawn from gear pumps and low pressure hydraulics. These conventional systems effectively handled grading and finishing work but had a hard time competing for high productivity work.
The new XL Series Gradall excavators proved a remarkable increase in their digging and lifting ability. These versions were manufactured along with a piston pump, high-pressure hydraulics system that showed great improvements in boom and bucket breakout forces. The XL Series hydraulics system was also developed with a load-sensing capability. Conventional excavators use an operator to pick a working-mode; where the Gradall system can automatically adjust the hydraulic power meant for the task at hand. This makes the operator's whole job easier and likewise saves fuel simultaneously.
When the new XL Series hydraulics became available in the market, Gradall was thrust into the extremely competitive industrial equipment market that are meant to tackle pavement removal, excavating, demolition and several industrial tasks. The introduction of the new telescoping boom helped to further improve the excavator's marketability. The telescoping boom gives the excavator the ability to better position attachments and to work in low overhead areas.
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