There's expensice palm walkers from Europe at around $2500 EURO ... basically it's an adjustable ring and clamps the trunk.
Not sure if it would work on say Pheonix or Washingtonia.
Other methods are shooting a rope over the head and ascending the rope SRT but that has it's own risks too.
Frankly, cherry picker is the way to go and like in this document ...
(
http://www.ufei.org/files/pubs/SP0416.pdf)
Quote:
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When tall palms need pruning, hire a professional who uses ladders, cherry pickers (hydraulic lifts), and non-invasive climbing gear. In the perfect world, palms would not be planted where there is no access for the proper pruning equipment that is required to prune them when they become tall. Understand that climbing palm trees with spikes is dangerous.
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Consideration should be given to removing/replacing those palms you cannot access which is what we have done on many occasions in resorts.
You're not going to get a quicker safer method a cherry picker.