Selected Quarterly Financial Data (Schedule Of Selected Quarterly Financial Data) (Details) (USD $) In Thousands, except Per Share data, unless otherwise specified	3 Months Ended								12 Months Ended
	Jan. 03, 2014	Sep. 27, 2013	Jun. 28, 2013	Mar. 29, 2013	Dec. 28, 2012	Sep. 28, 2012	Jun. 29, 2012	Mar. 30, 2012	Jan. 03, 2014		Dec. 28, 2012		Dec. 30, 2011
Quarterly Financial Information Disclosure [Abstract]
Revenue	$ 599,218	$ 556,502	$ 576,293	$ 556,111	$ 515,523	$ 504,763	$ 517,560	$ 502,267	$ 2,288,124	[1]	$ 2,040,113	[1]	$ 1,644,065	[1]
Gross margin	319,454	295,053	302,401	286,914	256,463	262,867	267,696	259,150	1,203,822		1,046,177		829,581
Net income attributable to Trimble Navigation Ltd.	$ 59,997	$ 54,469	$ 54,581	$ 49,808	$ 33,185	$ 53,364	$ 53,692	$ 50,818	$ 218,855		$ 191,060		$ 150,755
Basic net income per share	$ 0.23	$ 0.21	$ 0.21	$ 0.20	$ 0.13	$ 0.21	$ 0.21	$ 0.20	$ 0.85		$ 0.76		$ 0.61
Diluted net income per share	$ 0.23	$ 0.21	$ 0.21	$ 0.19	$ 0.13	$ 0.21	$ 0.21	$ 0.20	$ 0.84		$ 0.74		$ 0.60

[1] Revenue is attributed to countries based on the location of the customer.