Debt (Details)	6 Months Ended
	Jun. 30, 2013 Wells Fargo [Member] USD ($)	Jun. 30, 2013 Osborn [Member] USD ($)	Jun. 30, 2013 Osborn [Member] ZAR	Jun. 30, 2013 Astec Australia [Member] USD ($)	Jun. 30, 2013 Astec Australia [Member] AUD
Line of Credit Facility [Line Items]
Amount of credit facility	$ 100,000,000	$ 7,586,000	75,000,000	$ 92,000	100,000
Sub-limit for letters of credit	25,000,000
Original term of credit facility	100,000,000
Letters of credit outstanding	10,599,000
Borrowings outstanding		223,000
Line of credit, additional borrowing capacity	89,401,000
Expiration of amended and restated agreement (in years)	5
Interest rate description	daily one month LIBOR rate plus a 0.75% margin.
Unused facility fee as a percentage of line of credit (in hundredths)	0.175%
Performance guarantees		1,560,000
Available credit under the facility		5,803,000
Basis Spread on Variable Rate		(0.25%)	(0.25%)	1.05%
Interest rate (in hundredths)				10.92%
Interest rate (in hundredths)		8.25%	8.25%
Bank guaranty facility				1,206,000	1,300,000
Credit facility for financing foreign exchange dealer limit orders				6,956,000	7,500,000
Cash balances used to secure banking arrangements				696,000	750,000
Letter of credit issued by the parent company to secure banking arrangements				1,600,000
Performance guarantee outstanding amount				$ 847,000