I've never had that problem or heard of anyone with that problem.
I must have farmed easily over 2000 lards from beavers in my short Salem career for wall use, blister coffins, emergency mortars, and sale.
You might download Juda's
viewtopic.php?f=11&t=10171I load much faster now, though it sounds like you're over water, so...I don't know how much that would help. What are your water-related video settings? (Rhetorical question, obviously)
Also, just guessing, but what client do you use? I use Latikai and if I crash (which isn't often), I have to remember to not auto-sort the inventory immediately after rejoining if I'm carrying a lot of items--it sounds like you were--or I will crash again almost every time. I've been in zombie mode before and crashed myself out twice after the first crash by auto-sorting 250 rubble and 75 odds and ends.