Description of Business - Additional Information (Detail)	12 Months Ended
Oct. 26, 2012 Segment
Number of business segments	2

The number of business segments the Company operates in: underground mining machinery and surface mining equipment.

No definition available.

Name:	joy_NumberOfBusinessSegments
Namespace Prefix:	joy_
Data Type:	xbrli:positiveIntegerItemType
Balance Type:	na
Period Type:	duration