ok first a joke, he should have brought that tractor to Zeigler cat dealership for repair if he wanted the engine to blow up...
what else would you expect from someone in california.. when I was in high school in the early 80s I worked at a chevrolet dealer and we had to blow up a celebrity( model of car) 4 cylinder gas engine as it was approved for a warranty replacement for a blown engine, but the engine just had a knock and was still running, well after draining the oil. and antifreeze and running full throttle for 20 minutes the cat converter heated up so much the carpet inside started burning, so we put anything you could find down the throttle body, such as brake rotor grindings, different shop chemicals to try and seize the motor, finally we had to cut through the oil pan and loosen rod bolts and it still ran till we unbolted a rod to let loose, I was amazed at the abuse that engine took and did not fail till we unbolted a rod....