But how did the flotating work? The timber was barked and stored along rivers / waterways so that it dried up before the floating started. There were strict requirements for how the timber was to be stacked, so-called litter rolls, to ensure a good enough dryness. The rollers were placed slightly at an angle to the water, so that it would be easier to release it into the water.

The ponds were set in the spring and when the dams were broken all the timber had to be ready to be taken by the water masses and all the floaters had to be present whether it was Sunday or midnight.

The timber was then floated by a crew that each forest owner had, ie each owner managed to float his own timber. The timber was collected in a ring boom in one of all the lakes between Skullerud and Femsjøen. Through the river stretches at waterfalls and rapids, the timber was released and captured in the next sea. In the rivers, the logs were pushed ashore if they got too close to the floats that had long boat hooks. In the lakes, the timber was hauled by means of rowing boats or by means of the wind. The timber was hauled in rafts that were made in a certain way. On an ordered layer of loose timber, two cross logs are laid and on these a new layer of timber is drawn, so far up on the first layer that the logs have a suitable inclined position behind the raft.

Statistics Norway describes that an estimated 30,000 m3 of timber was floated annually from 1688 to 1795. The peak year was 1964 with just under 400,000 m3.