The Farming Simulator games offer some of the most calming and relaxing gaming experiences in existence. These games allow you to unwind after a long day at work and just melt away the stress. But in order to get the best out of such games, you really need to pile on the immersion.
The two most important things you need for this are a good display and good controllers. With regards to monitors, you can check some of my top recommendations here (its for a different sim but the same principle applies). I wish we had VR support but these monitors work well too.
Next, you need some top tier controllers – steering wheels, pedals or perhaps even more specialised products that we will see here on this list.
What do look for in a Steering Wheel, Pedal, Controller for Farm Sim?
- Comfort – My ploughing, cultivating, seeding, fertilizing and harvesting sessions can last for hours. Comfort is key or your hands can start to feel real tired. Keyboards are especially bad for this reason. You need a setup that is ergonomic.
- Compatibility – Many controllers are made for racing and it can be a bit odd using them for Farm Sim. That being said, many racing wheels work pretty well and I will list them all here. You need enough buttons and levers to take care of all the tasks.
- Excellent Build Quality – 20 years ago, I bought a Logitech MOMO wheel and pedal set. It still works perfectly fine to this day and a collector even offered to pay me a premium for it. That is the quality I expect out of my peripherals. A lot of my other wheels have that quality too, but a few don’t. I will rank them here accordingly.
1. Logitech G Farm Simulator Heavy Equipment Bundle (Best overall)
- Updated with engineering enhancements that address feedback from the community
- 900-degree rotation steering wheel offers the realistic rate of rotation for a tractor steering...
The Logitech G Farm Simulator Heavy Equipment Bundle is a dedicated product from Logitech for us digital farmers! You get a steering wheel, pedals and the side control panel that makes this product unique. Best features:
- Works straight out of the box with Farm Sim. No need to map controls.
- 900 degrees steering on the wheel giving you finer controls for finer movement. It also feels more realistic for tractors.
- Dual analog sticks for walking around so that you don’t have to use the mouse when moving between vehicles or looking around.
- Set and forget Cruise Control speed dial which is super handy.
- 37 buttons to get almost everything you need at the touch of your fingertips. It definitely makes the job easier and adds immersion.
These are just additional features over top of what you would generally expect form a wheel and pedal setup. These additions really add to the immersion and also makes the product feel unique.
2. Logitech G920 (Best Mid-Range)
- Wheel: The definitive sim racing wheel for Xbox One: Realistic steering and pedal action for the...
- Wheel: Responsive floor pedal unit: Accelerate, brake and change gears with the feel of an actual...
The Logitech G920 is unsurprisingly the most popular wheel for Farm Sim and most of the other racing/ driving sims as well. I have owned one for almost 5 years now and it is defiantly one of the best purchases I ever made in my entire 20 years of simulation gaming.
The build quality is excellent with both pedals and wheel having taken abuse for almost half a decade with not a single broken part or squeaking. The motion is still as smooth as it was on Day 1.
The wheel has an excellent range of motion which feels appropriate for both tractors and harvesters (and racing cars!). You can set the dead zone or sensitivity as required (meaning you can choose to turn it less). Force feedback can be pretty strong if you want realism or you can be a softie like me and tone it down.
The pedals are smooth and responsive with the brake pedal being harder as expected. It feels pretty sturdy although it tends to slip on non-carpeted surfaces (use a dumbbell or something to support it against the wall). But almost all pedals tend to slip – I have tested most of them for flight sims.
There are plenty of buttons to assign for all your tasks. I never had any issues on that front. I also bought the optional Shifter and it is totally worth if for the price.
3. Thrustmaster T80 (Best Budget/ Entry Level)
- The First PlayStation 4 officially licensed Racing wheel, for all racing games on PlayStation 4;...
- Wheel grip with rubber texture coating; Two on-wheel sequential digital gear shift paddles
Thrustmaster makes some really really good products in the almost all segments. Along with Logitech, they dominate all of my flight sim lists for gear as well. The T80 is no exception and is one of the best wheel and pedal sets you can get at this price point.
The build quality is decent but make sure you clamp it to a sturdy table to minimize wobble. It has enough buttons to get the job done but you will have to use mouse or a gamepad for walking around. That should not be much of a problem though as I have to do it with my premium wheels as well.
4. Thrustmaster TS-XW (Best Premium)
- The TS-XW Racer is a 1:1 scale replica of the Sparco P310 Competition wheel, and is officially...
- Works on Xbox Series X/S, XBOX One and PC
The main difference between the premium products and others is the build quality. But that can have a massive effect on almost every aspect of performance. The TS-XW is made with the best quality materials and offers the smoothest controller movement of any product on this list. This is essentially a racing wheel but it works well with any driving game.
You get 1080 degree rotation on the wheel with smooth force feedback (which can be tuned up considerably) and buttery smooth motion. The stars of the show are certainly the centring springs which makes the wheel feel divine in your hands. That can have a considerable impact on how you experience the game.
The metal pedal set is heavy and is not going to move around when you use it. It is also fully adjustable with detachable components allowing for component upgrades as per your personal preference. It is heavy.
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