Gradall Forklift Parts - The Gradall excavator was the creation of two brothers Ray and Koop Ferwerda. The excavator was established In the 1940's through World War II, when there was a scarcity of workers. Partners in a Cleveland, San Diego construction business known as Ferwerda-Werba-Ferwerda, the brothers faced a huge dilemma when lots of men left the labor force and signed up in the military, depleting available workers for the delicate finishing work and grading on highway projects. The Ferwerda brothers chose to make an equipment which will save their business by making the slope grading task less manual, easier and more efficient.
Their initial design prototype was a device with two beams set on a rotating platform which was attached atop a second-hand truck. A telescopic cylinder moved the beams forward and backward which enabled the fixed blade at the end of the beams to pull or push dirt. Shortly enhancing the first design, the brothers made a triangular boom to be able to add more strength. Furthermore, they added a tilt cylinder that let the boom rotate 45 degrees in either direction. A cylinder was positioned at the rear of the boom, powering a long push rod to allow the equipment to be outfitted with either a bucket or a blade attachment.
1992 marked a significant year for Gradall with their introduction of XL Series hydraulics, the most dramatic change in the company's excavators ever since their invention. These top-of-the-line hydraulics systems allowed Gradall excavators to provide comparable power and high productivity on a realistic level to traditional excavators. The XL Series put an end to the original Gradall equipment power drawn from low pressure hydraulics and gear pumps. These traditional systems effectively handled grading and finishing work but had a difficult time competing for high productivity work.
The new XL Series Gradall excavators proved a significant increase in their digging and lifting ability. These models were made together with a piston pump, high-pressure hydraulics system which showed huge improvements in boom and bucket breakout forces. The XL Series hydraulics system was also developed with a load-sensing capability. Traditional excavators make use of an operator to choose a working-mode; where the Gradall system can automatically adjust the hydraulic power meant for the job at hand. This makes the operator's general job easier and likewise saves fuel simultaneously.
Once the new XL Series hydraulics reached the market, Gradall was thrust into the very competitive industrial equipment market that are designed to tackle excavating, demolition, pavement removal and other industrial jobs. The introduction of the new telescoping boom helped to further enhance 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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