Document and Entity Information (USD $)	12 Months Ended
	Dec. 31, 2014	Jun. 30, 2014	Feb. 27, 2015
Entity Information [Line Items]
Entity Registrant Name	NACCO INDUSTRIES INC
Entity Central Index Key	0000789933
Current Fiscal Year End Date	--12-31
Entity Filer Category	Accelerated Filer
Document Type	10-K
Document Period End Date	Dec. 31, 2014
Document Fiscal Year Focus	2014
Document Fiscal Period Focus	FY
Amendment Flag	false
Entity Well-known Seasoned Issuer	No
Entity Voluntary Filers	No
Entity Current Reporting Status	Yes
Entity Public Float		$ 255,895,939
Shares Outstanding Class A
Entity Information [Line Items]
Shares Outstanding			5,610,926
Shares Outstanding Class B
Entity Information [Line Items]
Shares Outstanding			1,572,847