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Acquisitions and Investments (Schedule of Definite Lived Intangible Assets Acquired) (Details) (USD $) In Thousands, unless otherwise specified	0 Months Ended	12 Months Ended
	May 13, 2014	Dec. 31, 2014
Specialized Industries LP
Business Acquisition [Line Items]
Value at Acquisition	$ 53,900us-gaap_FinitelivedIntangibleAssetsAcquired1 / us-gaap_BusinessAcquisitionAxis = alg_SpecializedIndustriesLPMember
Trade names and trademarks
Business Acquisition [Line Items]
Value at Acquisition		21,548us-gaap_FinitelivedIntangibleAssetsAcquired1 / us-gaap_FiniteLivedIntangibleAssetsByMajorClassAxis = us-gaap_TrademarksAndTradeNamesMember
Trade names and trademarks | Specialized Industries LP
Business Acquisition [Line Items]
Estimated Useful Lives	25 years
Value at Acquisition	22,200us-gaap_FinitelivedIntangibleAssetsAcquired1 / us-gaap_BusinessAcquisitionAxis = alg_SpecializedIndustriesLPMember / us-gaap_FiniteLivedIntangibleAssetsByMajorClassAxis = us-gaap_TrademarksAndTradeNamesMember
Customer and dealer relationships
Business Acquisition [Line Items]
Value at Acquisition		28,068us-gaap_FinitelivedIntangibleAssetsAcquired1 / us-gaap_FiniteLivedIntangibleAssetsByMajorClassAxis = us-gaap_CustomerRelationshipsMember
Customer and dealer relationships | Specialized Industries LP
Business Acquisition [Line Items]
Estimated Useful Lives	14 years
Value at Acquisition	29,700us-gaap_FinitelivedIntangibleAssetsAcquired1 / us-gaap_BusinessAcquisitionAxis = alg_SpecializedIndustriesLPMember / us-gaap_FiniteLivedIntangibleAssetsByMajorClassAxis = us-gaap_CustomerRelationshipsMember
Patents and drawings
Business Acquisition [Line Items]
Value at Acquisition		1,868us-gaap_FinitelivedIntangibleAssetsAcquired1 / us-gaap_FiniteLivedIntangibleAssetsByMajorClassAxis = us-gaap_IntellectualPropertyMember
Patents and drawings | Specialized Industries LP
Business Acquisition [Line Items]
Estimated Useful Lives	12 years
Value at Acquisition	$ 2,000us-gaap_FinitelivedIntangibleAssetsAcquired1 / us-gaap_BusinessAcquisitionAxis = alg_SpecializedIndustriesLPMember / us-gaap_FiniteLivedIntangibleAssetsByMajorClassAxis = us-gaap_IntellectualPropertyMember

X

- Definition

Weighted average amortization period of finite-lived intangible assets acquired either individually or as part of a group of assets, in 'PnYnMnDTnHnMnS' format, for example, 'P1Y5M13D' represents the reported fact of one year, five months, and thirteen days.

+ References

Reference 1: http://www.xbrl.org/2003/role/presentationRef

-Publisher FASB

-Name Accounting Standards Codification

-Topic 350

-SubTopic 30

-Section 50

-Paragraph 1

-Subparagraph (a)(3)

-URI http://asc.fasb.org/extlink&oid=26713463&loc=d3e16265-109275

+ Details

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- Definition

Amount of increase in assets, excluding financial assets, lacking physical substance with a definite life, resulting from a business combination.

+ References

No definition available.

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