An excavation apparatus includes a supporting linkage mountable to a vehicle, and a rotary spindle operable to drive a coring element about a cutting axis. The supporting linkage supports the rotary spindle and is operable to displace the rotary spindle relative to a ground surface. The supporting linkage can lower the rotary spindle to a deployed position and raise the rotary spindle to a stored position. The cutting axis can be maintained in a vertical direction in the deployed and stored positions. The rotary spindle can move relative to the supporting linkage about a hinge axis. The hinge axis can be generally parallel to the vertical direction.