Maybe you should simply mount the remote filesystem to your local machine and then use whatever editor you like. If running a Debian derivative, install sshfs
sudo apt-get install sshfs
and then mount the remote filesystem ( issue on your local machine )
mkdir ~/remote_code
sshfs $USER@remote.example.com:/home/$USER/code ~/remote_code
Once this is done you can access the code in ~/remote_code w/ any of your GUI tools and without the bandwidth overhead of using ssh -X (however you still need a good connection w/ a low ping time).
PS: When using ssh I can make the terminal as wide as it fits my screen and then use its full width, so I fear I don’t completely understand your issue.