The proposal is for an excavation machine with a sub-structure on which is fitted a superstructure (1) which contains on the one hand a working equipment (6) pivotable about a first horizontal axis (5) and the other hand a counterweight (9) which is pivotable about a second horizontal axis (14), which is connected to the working equipment (6) via at least one tubular or rod-like coupling component (18), in which one link point (19) of the coupling component (18) is in the region of the superstructure end of the working equipment (6) and the other link point (20) is in the region of a lever arm on the counterweight.