You cannot just remove the rod....that would create a massive oil
leak inside the engine. Some people have taken two rod caps and
bolted them together (with bearings of course) to create a circle
around that area of the crank.

Take out the two push rods for that cylinder. Disconnect the plug wire
or disable the spark plug by closing the gap.

valves will not open on that cyl, piston is gone, no spark

or use a tow rope