Automatic navigation tractors experience large path tracking errors, easy overshoot in correction, and long adjustment times under conditions such as lateral deviation and sideslip. Aiming to address the problem of fast correction for lateral deviation and sideslip in tractors, an improved pure pursuit path tracking control method was proposed, based on a lateral control compensation strategy for the drive wheels. By constructing a tractor sideslip model on a slope and combining it with a two-wheel vehicle kinematic model, a lateral control compensation strategy was introduced to improve the classic pure pursuit algorithm, achieving precise lateral compensation control for autonomous tractors. To validate the performance of the proposed lateral deviation compensation improved pure pursuit path tracking algorithm, CarSim/ Simulink co-simulation was designed. The results of the sloped test showed that the improved algorithm enhanced control accuracy by 73.6% on a 10°slope compared with that of the classic algorithm. In the continuous sideslip simulation, the classic algorithm failed to escape, whereas the improved algorithm completed escape within 3.9 s, with lateral deviation converging to within 0.01 m and an overshoot of 0.14 m. Field tests were conducted to verify the effectiveness of the improved algorithm, with multiple trials showing an average escape time of 7.03 s and a maximum overshoot of 0.054 m. The test results demonstrated that the proposed lateral control compensation strategy significantly improved the control accuracy and stability of autonomous navigation tractors in complex working conditions.