Allowance for Credit Losses and Credit Quality of Receivables (Details) (USD $) In Millions, unless otherwise specified	12 Months Ended
	Oct. 31, 2012	Oct. 31, 2011	Oct. 31, 2010
Allowance for Credit Losses and Credit Quality of Receivables
Minimum number of days for a receivable to be considered past due	30 days
Aging of Past Due and Non-Performing Receivables
30-59 Days Past Due	$ 117.2	$ 144.4
60-89 Days Past Due	48.9	58.4
90 Days or Greater Past Due	33.7	36.9
Total Past Due	199.8	239.7
Total Non-Performing	63.2	79.0
Current	24,941.3	21,759.9
Total receivables	25,204.3	22,078.6	19,860.0
Retail notes
Receivable, Past Due
Generally the approximate number of days before a receivable is considered to be non-performing, accrual of finance income is suspended and the estimated uncollectible amount is written off	120 days
Retail notes | Agriculture and turf equipment
Aging of Past Due and Non-Performing Receivables
30-59 Days Past Due	52.6	76.1
60-89 Days Past Due	21.8	25.4
90 Days or Greater Past Due	14.3	20.3
Total Past Due	88.7	121.8
Total Non-Performing	37.8	41.1
Current	14,207.3	12,549.8
Total receivables	14,333.8	12,712.7
Retail notes | Construction and forestry equipment
Aging of Past Due and Non-Performing Receivables
30-59 Days Past Due	38.6	43.6
60-89 Days Past Due	17.0	19.0
90 Days or Greater Past Due	8.7	11.2
Total Past Due	64.3	73.8
Total Non-Performing	13.1	16.9
Current	1,317.6	1,064.8
Total receivables	1,395.0	1,155.5
Retail notes | Recreational products
Aging of Past Due and Non-Performing Receivables
Total Non-Performing		0.1
Current		3.4
Total receivables		3.5
Revolving charge accounts
Receivable, Past Due
Generally the approximate number of days before a receivable is considered to be non-performing, accrual of finance income is suspended and the estimated uncollectible amount is written off	120 days
Revolving charge accounts | Agriculture and turf equipment
Aging of Past Due and Non-Performing Receivables
30-59 Days Past Due	12.3	15.2
60-89 Days Past Due	3.6	5.7
90 Days or Greater Past Due	1.6	2.8
Total Past Due	17.5	23.7
Total Non-Performing	0.8	1.5
Current	2,343.0	2,364.7
Total receivables	2,361.3	2,389.9
Revolving charge accounts | Construction and forestry equipment
Aging of Past Due and Non-Performing Receivables
30-59 Days Past Due	2.4	2.1
60-89 Days Past Due	0.7	0.8
90 Days or Greater Past Due	0.3	0.4
Total Past Due	3.4	3.3
Current	63.0	59.3
Total receivables	66.4	62.6
Wholesale receivables
Receivable, Past Due
Generally the approximate number of days before a receivable is considered to be non-performing, accrual of finance income is suspended and the estimated uncollectible amount is written off	60 days
Wholesale receivables | Agriculture and turf equipment
Aging of Past Due and Non-Performing Receivables
30-59 Days Past Due	2.3	1.5
60-89 Days Past Due	3.8	3.0
90 Days or Greater Past Due	6.6	0.6
Total Past Due	12.7	5.1
Total Non-Performing	0.4	4.7
Current	5,394.4	4,350.2
Total receivables	5,407.5	4,360.0
Wholesale receivables | Construction and forestry equipment
Aging of Past Due and Non-Performing Receivables
30-59 Days Past Due	1.2	0.4
90 Days or Greater Past Due	1.5	0.2
Total Past Due	2.7	0.6
Current	1,072.9	851.1
Total receivables	1,075.6	851.7
Financing leases
Receivable, Past Due
Generally the approximate number of days before a receivable is considered to be non-performing, accrual of finance income is suspended and the estimated uncollectible amount is written off	120 days
Financing leases | Agriculture and turf equipment
Aging of Past Due and Non-Performing Receivables
30-59 Days Past Due	7.0	4.7
60-89 Days Past Due	1.7	3.4
90 Days or Greater Past Due	0.7	1.1
Total Past Due	9.4	9.2
Total Non-Performing	9.2	10.2
Current	356.5	299.3
Total receivables	375.1	318.7
Financing leases | Construction and forestry equipment
Aging of Past Due and Non-Performing Receivables
30-59 Days Past Due	0.8	0.8
60-89 Days Past Due	0.3	1.1
90 Days or Greater Past Due		0.3
Total Past Due	1.1	2.2
Total Non-Performing	1.9	3.0
Current	144.3	134.8
Total receivables	147.3	140.0
Operating loans | Agriculture and turf equipment
Aging of Past Due and Non-Performing Receivables
Total Non-Performing		1.5
Current	42.3	82.5
Total receivables	$ 42.3	$ 84.0