CAT TUL100 Compact Utility Loader: CAT's First Walk-Behind Loader Takes on the Bobcat MT120

Caterpillar doesn’t add new machine categories to its lineup very often, which is exactly what makes the CAT TUL100 worth stopping on. Previewed on March 1, 2026 alongside an updated 253 compact track loader and the all-new 301 CR micro mini excavator, the TUL100 is CAT’s first entry into the compact utility loader class — the small, tracked, walk-behind machines that squeeze through backyard gates, alley entrances, and fence lines a full-size skid steer or CTL simply can’t reach. Bobcat has quietly owned this weight class for years. Now CAT wants in, and it’s worth understanding exactly what CAT built, how it stacks up against the machine already dominating this space, and whether it makes sense to finance a machine that isn’t even shipping yet.

What CAT Actually Built

The TUL100 is a small machine on purpose. Operating weight comes in around 3,600 pounds, with a rated operating capacity of 1,000 pounds — enough to run pallet forks, buckets, augers, rakes, and trenchers without feeling undergunned for what this class of machine is actually asked to do. Power comes from a 24 hp CAT C1.1 turbo diesel, and CAT is offering two track width options — 36 inches and 42 inches — so contractors can pick a footprint that either threads through a standard 36-inch gate or trades a little of that access for extra flotation and stability on soft ground. Maximum lift height tops out around 7 feet, plenty for loading a pickup bed or dumping into a small trailer. CAT says commercial availability is targeted for early 2027 in North America.

No CAT Predecessor — So Here’s the Honest Comparison

Most of the equipment we cover in this newsletter has a clean predecessor to measure against — an old model number replaced by a new one, with a documented list of what changed. The TUL100 doesn’t have that. CAT has never built a machine in this class before, so there is no CAT model to compare it to, and we’re not going to pretend there is. What we can do instead is put it up against the machine that effectively defined this segment: Bobcat’s MT120, which we’ve already covered on this blog as Bobcat’s most powerful mini track loader to date. On paper, the two machines are close. The MT120 runs a 1,200-pound rated operating capacity and about a 3,720-pound operating weight on a 24.5 hp engine — modestly ahead of the TUL100’s 1,000-pound capacity and 24 hp rating. Where the CAT pitch differs is the track width choice: offering both a 36-inch and a 42-inch undercarriage lets a contractor decide, machine by machine, whether gate clearance or ground stability matters more for that day’s work, instead of buying one fixed footprint and living with the tradeoff every time. CAT is coming in slightly behind Bobcat on raw capacity, at least on paper, but with a flexibility option Bobcat doesn’t offer in this exact configuration.

Why This Class of Machine Exists

A walk-behind loader in this weight class earns its keep doing work a full-size skid steer physically can’t reach: backyard grading and drainage work behind a fence, irrigation trenching down a side yard, mulch and material delivery through a standard gate, post-hole and footing work for fence contractors, and debris cleanup in alleys and tight lot lines where nothing bigger fits. Landscapers, hardscape crews, irrigation installers, fencing subcontractors, and small residential demolition outfits are the trades that actually put machines like this to work every day — not as a novelty, but because the alternative is hand tools and wheelbarrows on jobs where hand labor eats the margin fast.

Attachment Versatility and Seasonal Work

CAT is positioning the TUL100 around a genuinely broad attachment lineup for a machine this size: augers for post holes and plantings, rakes and buckets for grading and material handling, trenchers for irrigation and low-voltage line runs, and forks for material and pallet delivery on tight sites. For a landscaping or hardscape business, that versatility matters most at the seasonal edges — spring cleanup and planting season, fall leaf and debris removal, and any stretch where the same crew is bouncing between grading, digging, and hauling tasks in the same week. A machine that can swap from an auger to a trencher to a bucket in minutes is doing the job of two or three rented specialty tools, without the extra trips to the rental counter.

Renting This Class vs. Financing One

Every hour a walk-behind loader sits at a rental counter instead of in your yard is an hour you’re paying for access instead of building equity. For a landscaping or fencing outfit that runs this class of machine regularly — not once a season, but week after week — renting stops making financial sense fast, and it puts you at the mercy of whatever the rental yard happens to have on the lot the week you need it. Our rent-vs-own breakdown walks through that math in more detail, but the short version for this class of machine is simple: if you’re reaching for a walk-behind loader more than a handful of times a year, financing one gets you a machine that’s always available, always yours, and always building toward something — instead of disappearing into a rental invoice the moment the job wraps.

Planning Around the Early 2027 Window

A little more than a year of lead time before commercial availability isn’t nothing, and it’s worth using it deliberately instead of just waiting. Dealers typically open order books well ahead of a new model’s ship date, and getting on that list early can mean the difference between having a TUL100 on your lot the week it’s available and waiting months behind contractors who got their name down sooner. In the meantime, a lot of the same landscaping, fencing, and irrigation work this machine is built for doesn’t pause for eighteen months — which is exactly why cross-shopping a current Bobcat MT120 alongside a pre-order conversation on the TUL100 makes sense for a lot of businesses. You don’t have to pick one path and stick with it; you can put a proven machine to work now and still be first in line when CAT’s version ships.

Financing a New Category — Before It’s Even Shipping

Because the TUL100 won’t be commercially available in North America until early 2027, there’s a real question of what to do between now and then if this class of machine is what your business needs today. That’s a conversation worth having with BFC early. We can structure financing around your actual timeline — whether that means getting pre-qualified now so you’re ready to move the moment the TUL100 ships, or financing a current-generation machine like the Bobcat MT120 today and revisiting the CAT option once it’s actually on dealer lots. Down payments on equipment like this are rarely one-size-fits-all: contractors with strong, well-established credit can sometimes structure a deal with $0 down, while others land somewhere in the 20–30% range, occasionally higher depending on the full credit picture — and in some cases, all it takes to get started is the first payment. Our skid steer and compact track loader financing guide walks through more of what that process looks like across this entire equipment class, and our piece on leasing to preserve working capital digs into why a smaller down payment is often the smarter move for a growing contracting business, not the riskier one. What we won’t do is guess at your numbers in a blog post — every credit profile is different, and the fastest way to get real figures is to apply and let us run them for you.

Talk to BFC About Financing

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