2002 700 Sportsman Squealing Sound

[Polaris@HFX]

Hi All,
Well my bike has been performing well, but i've been noticing as of late an annoying squealing sound. It comes and goes but yesterday while plowing a mountain of snow 30-50cms worth (1' to 1 1/2') the squealing was really noticeable and it made shifting the bike from forward to reverse extremely hard. The only way i could safely shift was to turn the bike off shift into the gear i wanted and start the bike up again.
The belt on my bike is over a year old, and i have not had a chance to look at it. So do you think that a worn belt could cause the issues i'm having or could it be something deeper?
Your thoughts or comments please

[Trikemaster]

Which side of the quad was the sound coming from?
Sometimes the belt gets frayed and burns a hole in the plastic cover-which allows water to get on the belts + in the engine. Check to see if you have gray oil....

[bdubbs]

I also have a 2002 sportsman that recently developed a squeal. It is worse in high gear, at mid speeds. Most notice-able going up hills.
Very annoying. Although it sounds like a belt issue, I'm really not sure. Did you ever get your issue figured out?

BW