Since the obstruction and the static water level are both at 265’, I would think the obstruction is a rusty spot in the casing that you have to work the pump through.
Several years ago Franklin started saying you no longer need a flow inducer on their 2HP and smaller, “Super Stainless” motors, top feeding well or not. That is because they finally shortened up their motors until the bottom of the motor isn’t very far away from the top or pump intake. So there should be enough water circulation and heat transfer to keep the thrust bearing cool, which is in the very bottom of the motor, even without a shroud.
With larger motors, the thrust bearing end of the motor is further away from the pump intake. This is why shrouds are more important on larger horsepower motors. However, it doesn’t matter how much cool water is standing above the pump in the well or even a lake. If there is zero flow, the water just around the motor will heat up and melt down the motor. Years ago I saw a demonstration that proved you could be pumping plenty of cool water out the pipe while water is boiling just a few inches further down the motor. Flow around the motor doesn’t just happen by itself, you have to make it happen.
Anything Franklin tells you is just enough to get a motor through the short warranty period. If they wanted to tell you how to make a motor last much, much longer, they would be recommending a shroud and a Cycle Stop Valve on each pump.
It just makes sense, the motor would stay cooler and last much longer if the small amount of water being pumped went past the motor before going into the pump. Just like it makes sense that because cycling off and on is the biggest killer of pump/motors, eliminating the cycling would make a pump/motor last much longer. But you are not going to hear that from a company who makes motors for a living.
In wells with a high static level but a slow recovery, the water could be top feeding for quite some time before water starts coming in from below the motor. In many cases the pump is shut off as soon as this happens. Then the well is left to time out and recover, which means all the water it pumps is top feeding.
I just put a shroud on any pump where I can make it fit. Then I only have to worry about the few where I couldn’t make a shroud fit.