Gradall Forklift Parts - The Gradall excavator was the brainchild of two brothers Ray and Koop Ferwerda. The excavator was created In the 1940's throughout WWII, when there was a shortage of workers. The brothers faced the problems of a depleted workforce because of the war. As partners in their Cleveland, Ohio construction business known as Ferwerda-Werba-Ferwerda they lacked the available workers in order to carry out the delicate job of grading and finishing on their freeway projects. The Ferwerda brothers chose to build an equipment which will save their company by making the slope grading task less manual, easier and more efficient.
Their first design prototype was a device with two beams set on a rotating platform that was attached atop a second-hand truck. A telescopic cylinder moved the beams forward and backward that enabled the fixed blade at the end of the beams to pull or push dirt. Shortly enhancing the very first design, the brothers made a triangular boom to add more strength. What's more, they added a tilt cylinder which let the boom rotate 45 degrees in either direction. A cylinder was positioned at the back of the boom, powering a long push rod to allow the machine to be outfitted with either a bucket or a blade attachment.
The year 1992 marked a crucial year for Gradall with their launch of XL Series hydraulics, the most amazing change in the company's excavators 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 ended the initial Gradall equipment power drawn from gear pumps and low pressure hydraulics. These traditional systems effectively handled finishing work and grading but had a difficult time competing for high productivity jobs.
The new XL Series Gradall excavators proved a significant increase in their lifting and digging ability. These versions were made with a piston pump, high-pressure hydraulics system which showed immense improvements in boom and bucket breakout forces. The XL Series hydraulics system was likewise developed together with a load-sensing capability. Conventional excavators use 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 whole work easier and also saves fuel at the same time.
Once the new XL Series hydraulics reached the market, Gradall was thrust into the extremely competitive industrial machinery market which are designed to deal with demolition, pavement removal, excavating as well as several 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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