Here's what I do

Hiya Brian - here's how I use my rotary (175):
I have a tank. I use a side to side motion of about 5 feet, going backwards. I go from right to left reasonably slowly, then on the return (left to right) I move the machine a little faster with the tank feed open, then from right to left again over the top of the solution I just laid down (just enough to get a slight foam). Sometimes if the carpet is pretty soiled I'll then go up and down in long rows over the top of the side to side runs, by simply pushing the machine fowards and pulling backwards. If the machine doesn't go straight fowards in a line easily, I'd say there's a problem with the balance on it.

I use tan fibre pads usually. They bite when new but settle in to a good finish suitable for resi as well (I pre scrub almost all my resi before HWE with the rotary).

If I get solution on baseboards or adjacent hard floors I simply wipe it off. It's not a problem.

Hope that helps?