People who bought and sold timber on rafts were known as "mok-sang" (wood merchants). These wood merchants often gathered timber and made a lot of money selling it in Seoul. To acquire timber for the rafts, trees were cut between the 10th month of the lunar calendar and February of the following year. Typically, the work was done in winter, as the snow in the mountains made it easier to transport the wood, and rafts could be floated when the ice began to melt in the spring. When floating the rafts, 2-3 boatmen were positioned at the front and back to ensure the rafts reached Seoul safely. Since the journey took more than two weeks, many people would cook and eat meals on the rafts during the trip.